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'-"^ PROCEEDINGS 



NEW-ENGLAND ANTI-SLAVERY CONVENTION, 



HELD IN BOSTON 



37TH, 28TH AND 29TH OF MAY, 1831. 



BOSTON: 
rUBLlSHED BY GARRISON & KNAPP. 

1834. 



^ 6' 



^1 

i cj 



2baQ^ ©is* saissESSiJ^Q 






OF THE 



NEW-ENGLAND ANTI-SLAVERY CONVENTION. 



MAINE. 



PORTLAND. 

William C. Munroc, Nathan Winslovv. 

James Appleton, 

HALLOWELL. 

Ebenezer Dole. 

AUGUSTA. 

Joseph Soulhwick. 

CALAIS. 

Aaron B. Church. 

BANGOR. 

S. L. Pomroy. 

WELLS. 

Walter F. Hill. 

NEW-HAMPSHIRE. 

DOVER. 

Gibbon Williams, David Roat. 

PLYMOUTH. 

Jonathan Ward, George Kimball. 

N. P. Rogers, 

WINDHAM. 

David Cambell, Calvin Cutler. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 



Drury Fairbanks, 
Joseph Tillson, 
Amasa Walker, 
Truman R. Hawley, 
William A. Weeks, 
Nathaniel Southard, 
J. V. Himes. 
J'enjamin C. Bacon, 
J. C. White, 
Nathaniel Budd, 
John Sullivan, 
S. G. Shipley, 
Henry Grew, 
Increase Gilbert, 



BOSTON. 

Joshua Easton, 
J. S. Withington, 
John Cutts Smith, 
Ellis Gray lioring, 
William Lloyd Garrison, 
Thomas Cole, 
Abner Forbes, 
George Titcomb, 
J. R. Gushing, 

Isaac Knapp, 

Henry Safl'ord, 

Daniel Gregg, 

Samuel Gooch, 

Henry C. Miner, 



Increase S. Withington, Perez Gill. 

John E. Fuller, James D. Yates, 

Thomas Edwards, John T. Hilton, 

Chandler Robbins, David L. Child, 

David Cambell, E. M. P. Wells, 

James G. Barbadocs, Amos A. Phelps, 

Samuel E. Sewall, John R. Cambell. 



William B. Oliver, 
John Berry, 
Israel Perkins, 



LYNN. 

Christopher Robinson, 
Edward S. Davis, 
Samuel Gale. 



DANVERS. 

Edward Soulhwick, Jesse Putnam. 

IPSWICH. 

David T. Kimball, William Oakes. 



AND VICINITY. 

Pease, 

Asa Wiggin, 

Schuyler Lawrence, 
Avery Briggs, 
William Williams, 
Thomas Drew, 
, William Chase, 

Richard M. Chipman, Jr. 
Richard Hood, 
Benjamin H. Ives, 
Simeon Coburn, 
John Holroyd, 

Moore, 

Charles C. Sewall, 
Milton P. Braman, 
John A. Innis. 



SALEM 

William Treadwell, 
E. B. Dearborn, 
Benjamin A. Gray, 
Daniel Potter, 
Joshua Pope, 
Daniel Weed, jr. 
Thomas Woodbridge 
Robert Coggswell, 
William Abbot, 
Joseph Hale, 
Samuel P. Flint, 
Cyrus P. Grosvenor, 
William B. Dodge, 
Rufus Putnam, 
Josiah Hayward, 
Richard P. Waters, 
Parket Brown, 

MANCHESTER. 

Samuel M. Emerson. 

NEWBDRYPORT. 

Philip C. Knapp, David J. Merrill, 

William Ashby, jr. Amos Pettingell, 

Samuel Titcomb, Andrew Raymond. 
Atkinson Stanwood, 

HAVERHILL. 

John G. Whittier, Dudley Phelps, 

Samuel H. Peckham, Nathan Webster. 

SALISBURY. 

Robert Scott. 

AMESBURY. 

Samuel Fielding. 

LOWELL. 

Giles Pease, Aaron 11. Saflbrd, 

William Twining, Asa Rand. 

CAMBRIDGE. 

Dexter Fairbanks, Charles Follcn, 

Sidney Willard, 
Jonathan AUlrich, 
Henry M. Chamberlain. 

NKWTON. 

George Waters, William G. Crocker, 

Charles H. Peabody, Eben Crane. 

WALTHAM. 

George A. Williams, 
Samuel G. Bemis. 



Henry Ware, jr. 
Fiancis J. Higginson. 



Sewall Harding, 
James D. White, 



Calvin Temple, 
Horace P. Wakefield, 
Jonas Parker, 
Aaron Pickett, 
William Wakefield, jr 



READING. 

Ambrose Kingman, 
Sumner W. Parker, 
Enoch Peabody, 
James Nichols. 



Members of the Mw-England Anti-Slavery Convention. 

MEDWAY. 



SOUTH READIKG. 

Martin Stowell, Albert G. Sweetser. 

Moses Swcotser, jr. Jacob Eaton, 

Harrison Pratt, William Heath. 

DORCHESTER. 

D. Sanford, Richard Clapp. 

John P. Clapp, 

WRFNTHAM. 

William Harlow. 

KORTII WRESTHAM. 

MosGS Tbachcr. 

MILTON. 

Joseph Porter. 

CHARLESTOWN. 

Oliver Holden. 

nOLDEN. 

Samuel Stratton, David Fish, 

John P. Foster, Artcmus Dryden. 

ATTLEBOKOUGH. 

Jonathan E. Forbush, Chaflcs Simmons. 

CXBRIDGE. 

Effm^ham L, Capron, Ephraim Jiasselt, 

MENDON. 

John M, S. Perry, David Wilson. 

GROT«N. 

Isaiah Craggin, Amos Farnsworth. 

NORTHBOHOUGH. 

Asaph Rice, Joseph Allen. 

MIDDLEBOROUGH. 

Wm. H. Eddy, Edward C, Messingcr. 

ANDOrVER. 

David T. Kimball, jr. Le Roy Sunderland. 

FRANKLI.V. 

Elam Smalley. 

0RAFT0.\. 

Otis Converse. 

ACTON. 

James D. Woodbury. 

BARRE. 

Mosos Gill Grosvenor. 

SOUTH WEVUOl'TH. 

Charles J. Warren. 

SUNrjERI.A.Nll. 

Krastus Andrews. 

nunr.EV. 
Abifl Fisher. 

NANTLTKKT. 

IMwanl J. Pompcy. 

.•^IIARON. 

Jonaili.'iii Curtisg. 

NATKK. 

Eilwnr<l Palmer. 

WFST Royt.STON. 

Philrmon R. ItiiSbell. 



^)lis Thompson. 
I-ulhcr Wrif;lil. 



Jacob Ida. 

Samuel Philbrick. 

A. Gray, 
T.-Hervey, 
S. Leach, 

J.O. Choules. 

Daniel Thomas. 

Silas Kcnney. 

George Trask. 

Elbridgc G. Howe 

Silas Ripley. 

Edward Seagrave 



BROOKLINE. 
AiMHERST. 

H. Morse, 
E. Piitchett. 
William G. Howard. 

NEW BEDFORD. 

ABIKGTON. 

LITTLETON. 

FRAMINOHAM. 

HALIFAX. 

MARSHFIELD. 

SCITUATE. 

ASSONET. 



DavKJ nri.'JKim. 



F.A.ST IlANIIOI.rw. 



Stetson Raymond. 

RHODE-ISLAND. 

PAWTUCKET. 

JohnBlain, Joseph Arnold, 

Ray Potter, George W. Walker, 

Samuel Foster, William P. Henry, 

Joseph Hcaly, Rufus Bliss. 

PROVIDENCE. 

Anson Potter, Henry E, Benson. 

George W. Benson, 

CONNECTICUT. 

PLAINFIKLD. 

Albert Hinckley-, C. C. Burleigh. 

BROOK I.TN. 

Samuel J. May, Herbert Williams. 

ABINGTO.V. 

Georgo Sharp. 

NEW-HAVEN. 

Alauson Saunders. 

HARTFORD. 

Charles Greene. 

NEW- YORK. 

KKW-YORK CITV. 

(Jcorge Hournc. John Frost. 

Cliarlis Stuart, 

OHIO. 

WKSTKUN KESKKVF. COLLEGE. 

Elijah Birkwitli. 

KENTrCKV. 

AIUJISTA. 

James A. Thome. 



[Note. A very lariro proportion of the aSovp 
persons wcr« delegates from Anti-Slavery Societies 
ill various pans of Ninv-Englnnd. I twill be seen 
that every State in New-Ij.glan.l was represented, 
except Vermont: that Stale, however, is second to 
none for zeal and interest in tho ami-s)av<jry cause.] 



PROCEEDINGS 



NEW-ENGLAND ANTI-SLAVERY.? CONVENTION. 



Agreeably to public notice, the Conven- 
tion, composed of delegates from various 
anti-slavery societies in the New-England 
States, and of the friends of immediate eman- 
cipation, assembled at Bovlston Hall on Tues- 
day morning, May 27, 1834, at 10 o'clock. 

The Convention was called to order by 
Rev. E. M. P. Wells of Boston, and opened 
•with prayer by the Rev. John Blain of Paw- 
tucket, R. I. 

The following gentlemen were appointed, 
by nomination, ofEcers of the Convention : 

PRESIDENT. 

Rev. SAMUEL J. MAY, Brooklyn, Ct. 

VICE PRESIDENTS. 

Rev. JOHN BLAIN, Pawtucket, R. L 
WILLLVM OAKES, Esq. Ipswich, Mass. 
Rev. E. M. P. WELLS. JJoslon, JMass. 
EFFINGHAM L. CARRON, U.xbridge,Ma3s. 

SECRETARIES. 

Rev. JOHN M. S. PERRY. Mendon, Mass. 

Mr. BENJAMIN C. BACON, Boston. Mass. 

The President, upon taking the chair, ex- 
pressed his regret that some other person, 
better qualified to fill it, liad not been select- 
ed by the Convention; but it was a principle 
with him, and ho hoped it might be with all 
engaged in the sacred cause of emancipation, 
so Ions; as it luas unpopular, to stand wher- 
ever put by the anti-slavery brethren. They 
had met to consider the most momentous 
subject which had ever agitated the land- 
relating, as it did, to the thraldom of more 
than two millions of their own countrymen. 
What was slaveryjJas it existed in this "coun- 
try ? He would not harrow up the feelings 
of the Convention, by depicting individual 
cases of suffering and cruelty. He would 
only glance at slavery as it was establislied 
and regulated hij law ; and it was certainly 
fair to conclude that in practice it was no 
bettor than by law. Millions of native Ame- 
ricans were held in as abject a state of sub- 



serviency as brutes — regarded as property — 
and bought and sold like cattle. It was a 
matter of every i day's occurrence for hus- 
bands to be torn from their wives, parents 
from children, and brothers from sisters, and 
sold into remediless e.xile and captivity. All 
this was constantly done, even in the boasted 
capital of this republic. The law gave no 
more protection to the slaves than to brutes. 
If they dared to offer any resistance, under 
the severest provocation, any brutality might 
be inflicted upon them. Even if a slave 
should venture to defend his father or child 
from violence, or his mother or wife or sister 
from pollution, it would be at the peril of his 
life. The law contemplated no improvement 
in the physical, intellectual, or moral condi- 
tion of the slaves. Any attempt to^iinstruct 
them in reading and writing was regarded 
and punished as felony. The teacher was 
liable to be fined — cast into prison — and de- 
prived of his elective franchise. Should they 
then advise delay, in view of these appalling 
facts .3 The nation had been indulged too 
long in its guilty slumber, and now, if ever, 
was the time for vigorous and determined 
action. In the prayer that had just been 
offered, the cause in which they were enga- 
ged had been commended to God. He hoped 
that all of them had united in that petition, 
that His wisdom might direct them and His 
grace bless. 

The following gentlemen were appointed 
to act as a Committee of Arranofements — 
Messrs. George W. Benson of Providence, 
Samuel E. Sewall, Wm. Lloyd Garrison, and 
.Tames G. Bnrbadoes of Boston, Wm. Oakes 
of Ipswich, .Joseph Healy of Pawtucket, and 
Charies Follen of Cambridge. 

Mr. Bacon asked leave to read the follow- 
ing letters from the venerable George Ben- 
son of Brooklyn, Ct. President of the New- 
England Anti-Slavery Society, and from the 



Minuks of the JVeiv-England Anli-Slavery Convention. 



venerable Natiiamkl Emimo.xs, 
Franklin, Mass. 



D. D. of 



Brookm'.v, (Ct.) 17th April, 1834. 

My Dear \yD Respected Friend : 

I duly received your very kind nnd wel- 
come louer, of the olst iik., and fully ac- 
knowledge tlie propriety o!" an apolorry for 
this delay of any reply, but at present will 
only suggest, that it did not cuianatc from an 
absence of grateful respect to yourself and 
the Society, wiiicli is so happy in the selec- 
tion of a Ilecording Secretary. Permit me 
to express a regret, that tlie same sagacity 
had not influenced the election of a Presi- 
dent, which, however flattering and gratify- 
ing to rne, would by near locality of situa- 
tion, have rendered the choice more auspi- 
cious to the Society. As far as respects zeal, 
in this truly (christian cause, I feel tenacious 
of some favorable notice of its friends, and 
thank them and yourself, for the kind invita- 
tion of a visit to Boston, which, if my life 
is continued, I hope to enjoy ; hut during the 
ensuing month, I have business to transact 
in this town and Provid'-ncc, which admits of 
no prccrastination. In addition to tliis, my very 
venerable friend, Moses Brow.v, of Provi- 
dence, (personally known to our friend Mr. 
Garrison,) has signified his wish that I should, 
some time in May, attend to revive a Society, 
instituted many years since, to aid in the ab- 
olition of tlie Slave Trade and Slavery : in 
order that the recently instituted Abolition 
Society in that city, should unite with the 
proposed renovated Society. It will rherf^forc 
be very inconvenient, if not impracticable, to 
attf^nd the propos'^d meeting of your Socioty 
in Boston. I perfectly accord in opinion with 
you on the imi>ortance of a dying testimony 
to the religiously correct faith in ihe prompt 
nnd immediate abolition of Slavery. During 
tlie discussion of the Slave Trade (iu<\stion, 
in tlie British Parliament, I observed that the 
argnmr-nts oppospd to that nefarious traflic. 
would in general npoly with equal force and 
propriety to the no less moral turpitude of 
existing' Sjnvery. On the introduction of a 
motion fir the grndnal nliolition of Slavery, 
the celebritod Mr. Pitt ' rejoicrd that tlie 
debnt'! iind takon a turn whicli contracted the 
nuostion into narrow limits— the matter then 
in dispute was mfrejy the time at which the 
AI)oliti()n should taki"' place. Why ought it 
to be abolished at nil ? because it is an in- 
curable injustice — a moral evil — bow mucii 
stronger then, is tlie argument forimmi'diate 
than gradual nbolilioii — if, on the ground of 
R moral evil, it is to be abolished at last, why 
ou'riif it. nf,t i,f)w ? Why !•< injii'^tice to be 
Huirered to roinain for a sin?h- liourP'i^'e. 
Mr. nnrko declared that 'all men who desire 
liberty dpservn it— it Ih not the reward of oiir 
merit, or tli'- acrpiisition of our industry, it is 
our inheritance, it is the birth right of our 



specief . Slavery is a state so improper, so 
degrading and so ruinous to the feelings and 
capacities of human nature, that it ought not 
to be suffered to exist.' To the hcmor of the 
British Prelates, they exhibited the most de- 
cisive testimony against the detestable prac- 
tice. Bishop Porteus said — 'The Christian 
Religion is opposed to Slavery in its spirit 
and in its principles : it classes men-stcalers 
among murderers of fiithers and mothers, and 
among the most profane criminals upon earth.' 
Bishop Ilorseley declared that 'Slavery is 
injustice v/hich no consideration of policy 
could extenuate.' The Bishop of St. David 
said, ' Slavery ought to be abolished, because 
it is inconsistent with tiie will of God.' Bish- 
op Peekard pronounced ' the trade a dreadful 
pre-eminence in guilt.' Dr. Price, who was 
a distinguisiied friend to the American Rev- 
olution, says in reference to that event — ' The 
negro trade cannot bo censured in language 
too severe ; it is a traffic shocking to humanity, 
cruel, wicked, and diabolical. I am happy 
that the United States are entering into meas- 
ures for discountenancing it, and for abolish- 
ing the odious Slavery ' (mistake) 'which it 
has introduced : till they have done this, it 
will not appear they deserve the liberty for 
which they have been contending.' 

Perhaps you may be well acquainted with 
all the extracts f have transcribed. They 
are not designed for publication, unless it is 
expected that some good to our sacred cause 
may bo the result. I had so long protracted 
my reply to your acceptable letter, that I con- 
cluded to occupy more than one parrp, and 
perhaps have even intruded on your patience. 
I solicit you to present my very amicable re- 
spects to our mutual and distinguished friend 
to the colored population, Mr. Garrison, and 
as opportunity may occur, to all the members 
of the Society, with my grateful acknowledg- 
ments for the favor with which they liave 
honored me; and do, my dear Sir, assure 
yourself of the amity, respect, nnd esteem 
of your aHectionate friend and eollearrue, 
GEORGE BENSON. 

I nolicfd, in n Into I.ibcralor. .tm aliiisicin to n let- 
Icr from iiip. and lo my a'lvnnml ntjp. 1 Iihvp hpcn 
rii-iilv favorpt! liy n l;iml I'rnvidpiK i-. In liavc allnin- 
pil almi-Kl f^2 ypar<. williniit llip aid of «ppclnrlc.s, 
wli'cli \ now nipniion a< an a|iolooy for ll)p dpfpcts 
you may disrover in romjiosition and liaiid wiiiiii£r. 

(;. V,: 
Be.vj. C. Bacon, Esq., Boston. 



Framcmn, April S.*), 1S;14. 
Mr. B. r. Bvcon: 

Sir, — Please to assure the Board of Mnn- 
nffers of the Now-Englnnd Anti-Slavery So- 
ciety, that I nm dooply sensible of the 
nnmorited respect which they have shown 
me, by their polito invitation to attend the 
C^lnvention of the Deletrntes to that Society, 
til be hi'ld in the city of Poston on the last 
Tucshiv of Mnv next. 1 should esteem it a 



Kernarks of Rev. John Blain. 



peculiar honor and privilege to have a seat 
in a Convention of such noble patriots and 
cordial friends of humanity. But my extreme 
age, and feeble powers of body and of mind, 
forbid me to go to such a distance from home, 
and especially forbid me to appear and sit in 
such a distinguished body of men on such a 
public and interesting occasion. I have al- 
ways held and abhorred Slavery as a heinous 
and detestable crime in its own nature, and 
a foul blot upon any nation, and especially 
upon New-England and the United States. 
It is my sincere desire and ardent prayer, 
that God would afford his presence and di- 
rection to the honorable Convention, and 
lead them to devise and adopt the wisest and 
best measures to obtain their benevolent and 
important object., 

I am, Sir, respectfully yours, ^ 

N. EJVIMONS. 

Voted, That the foregoing letters be placed 
upon the files of the Convention for publica- 
tion. 

On motion of Rev. E. M. P. Wells, it was 

Voted, That it be a standing rule of the 
Convention, that all business to be acted 
upon by the Convention be introduced through 
the standing Committee. 

On motion of the Rev. John Blain of Paw- 
tucket, it was unanimously 

Resolved, That slavery, as it exists in our 
land, is contrary to the laws of God and to 
the principles of humanity, and ought to be 
immediately abolished. 

Mr. B. observed that he was not a little 
surprised to hear, in a land where only five- 
sixths of the inhabitants are free, so much 
said of our liberty, our free institutions, &c. 
Go a little way south, and one sixth of the 
population are in abject and cruel bondage. 
To ihem the 4th of .Tuly is no day of Inde- 
pendence. While the proud eagles of our 
country have been waving for 58 years, and 
our orators have been trumpeting long and 
"loud the praises of liberty, a large portion of 
our fellow men enslaved and oppressed, have 
been toiling beneath the lash, in our very 
midst. 

And to whom shall they go for redress ? To 
the north ? Even there the almost universal 
cry is, No interference. Are we allowed to 
send out publications calculated to enlight- 
en the public mind on this subject? Are 
we permitted to raise our voices in their be- 
half ? By no means. We must be still, we 
are told. We can do no good — we may do 
mischief. Not so, however, if the suffering 
Greeks, on another continent, call for our 
sympathies, our contributions, our aid. 
There is then no want of contributions or 
orators. The press also is at once enlis- 
ted in their favor. Nothing is heard but 
notes of sympathy for that distressed people, 



and not a dog is found to move his tongue 
against it. VVe can declaim long and loud, 
too, of the tyranny of the Czar over the un- 
fortunate Poles ; but on the subject of a 
worse tyranny in our very midst, lue must be 
still ! we must wait a little longer! Two 
millions of people enslaved in our very midst, 
and yet we must wait a little longer, before 
we may raise our voices in their behalf. 

Wait, Mr. President ? Why, we have 
waited half a century already. We have 
concluded to wait no longer. We are deter- 
mined — at least a few of us — to act. We 
have determined to form Societies and send 
out agents to awaken and enlighten the pub- 
lic mind, in hopes that, by these and other 
kindred means, the time may eventually ar- 
rive when we may be able to say to the cap- 
tive and the slave. Go free. 

The time has arrived when it will not 
do to talk longer about grat/woZ emancipa- 
tion. Let us make the case our own. Sup- 
pose our own sons and daughters and pa- 
rents and friends and neighbors were expos- 
ed in the capital of the United States, and 
compelled to undergo an examination — 
physically — like beasts, and then sold under 
the hammer of the auctioneer ; and driven 
off to New-Orleans or elsewhere. How long 
should we talk about gradual emancipation ? 
Are not the bodies and souls of colored peo- 
ple as really valuable as those of the people 
of the north ? We have our benevolent in- 
stitutions for improving the condition of the 
Deaf and Dumb, and the Blind; and some 
nations have institutions for the improvement 
and reformation even of criminals. But 
what is our country doing ? 

Mr. B. went into an examination of the 
apology for slaveholders, that many of them 
are benevolent and kind men, and treat their 
slaves Avith great kindness, and mentioned 
as indisputable facts many instances of the 
most wanton and unprovoked cruelty inflict- 
ed on them both by male and female own- 
ers. Cruelty, he insisted, was the rule — 
kindness the exception, universally. Some- 
thing must be done. As men, and as Chris- 
tians, we are called upon to express our 
feelings ; and neither bonds, nor threats, 
nor persecution should deter us. 

On motion of Dea. Asaph Rice of North- 
boro', seconded by Rev. David Brigham of 
Randolph, it was unanimously 

Resolved, That the time has arrived when 
the ministers of the gospel must regard it as 
their duty to sustain the benevolent opera- 
tions of the day, especially in reference to 
the abolition of slavery in this country and 
throughout the world. 

Mr. R. said he came here to record his 
name as the friend of his race — as the friend 
of man. It was an eventful day in the liis- 
tory of our country — such an one as had not 



Minutes of the J^^w-England ^inti-SIavery Convention. 



before been witnessed. lie insisted strong- 
ly on the demand made, at the present crisis, 
on ministers of tlie gospel. They are to 
preacii the glad tidings to evtnj creature. 
There is no exception — no limitation. He 
was not about to prescribe in detail the course 
which every minister ought to take, but some- 
thing he must. The Anti-Slavery Society 
has no war with those who wjll do amjthing, 
whatever, for the colored people. It is only 
those who are against them, that they would 
oppose. 

Mr. R's great age and occasional eloquence 
gave much interest to his remarks, indepen- 
dent of the nature of the subject itself. One 
burst of feeling was peculiarly happy. 

' Yc ministers of Christ,' said he, 'it be- 
hoves you to come up to the spirit of this 
great work. You arc to place j our feet firm 
on the Rock of Ages, and with your shoul- 
ders firrn at the wiieel. you are to strain ev- 
ery muscle, and ligament, and nerve, and 
fibre. And are not the motives sufficient? 
Sec that master, with his whip in his hand ! 
See the blood streaming down the lacerated 
back of the poor, and perhaps unoft'ending 
victim of his cruelty ! Then imagine your- 
selves, on the otiier hand, at the throne of 
God, and a countless host of redeemed souls 
from our colored population — redeemed 
througii your exertions. Can you then want 
motives to action ? But if so, draw aside the 
curtains which conceal the bottomless pit, 
and view the miseries of the lost — lost per- 
haps by your neglect to do what you might 
have accomplished ! Have you not slept 
long enough ? Will you continue to sleep 
on? Will you longer go down witii Jonah 
to tlie sides of the sliip, when an awful storm 
is hanging over the country ?' 

Rev. Mr. lirigham, of Randolph, believed 
liiat ])reachers sometimes needed preaching 
to, and he rejoiced that they had received, 
on this occasion, much plain and wholesome 
instruction from ai)lainman. Still he thought 
Mr. R. did not righly ap])rehcnd the present 
views and feelings of nnuisters in rcgnrd to 
davcry. In his own ncigliborhood at least, 
— ho believed throughout New-Kngland — a 
large majority of the ministers of tiu; gospel 
were .\nti-Slavory men. Yet without doubt 
they needed much exhortation — much stir- 
ring np to their duty. Ho liojjed, therefore, 
I hat the resolution would jiass. Only let 
'light and love' be diflused througii the 
country, he said, and the progress of the 
Aiiti-Slavrry raiiso must ho rapid indeed. 
Ho liopcd ministers as woll as all other citi- 
•/.(MiH would come u[i to th',* worlc. Let light 
and lovo fly through thu country, and nil 
diiricnitioH in our way will soon disappear. 
Slavt^iioldcrs have conBcicncea us well as 
other men, guilty as they are. 

Conimiftres were nppoinltMl to report ii)ioii 
the following BulijoctP : 



1. On slavery in the District of Columbia 
and in the Territories — Messrs. John Blain, 
Samuel E. Sewall, Asa Rand, David T. Kini-* 
ball, EtHngham L. Capron. 

2. On the internal slave trade — Messrs. 
John Frost, David L. Child, Ray Potter, 
Jesse Putnam, and Joseph Southwick. 

3. On the best means of effecting a more 
complete co-operation and union among abo- 
litionists — Messrs. William Lloyd Garrison, 
William Oakes, George W. Benson, S. L, 
Pomroy, Asa Rand, C. C. Burleigh, S. E. 
Sewall, S. J. May, Charles Stuart, Effingham 
L. Capron, N. P. Rogers, Jacob Ide, Phil- 
emon R. Russell, and C. P. Grosvenor. 

4. On Manual Labor Schools — Messrs. 
Moses Thacher, William Oakes, E. M. P. 
Wells, Philemon R. Russell, and George 
Sharpe. 

5. On the expenses of the Convention — 
Messrs. Aaron Pickett, Amasa Walker, S. 
G, Shipley, Thomas Edwards, and James G. 
Barbadoes. 

6. Committee to publish report of the 
Convention — Messrs. Wm. Lloyd Garrison, 
Isaac Knapp, B. C. Bacon, Henry Grew, and 
C. C. Burloigh. 

7. On an address to the People of New- 
England — Messrs. Charles Eollen, Dudley 
Phelps, Henry Ware, -r., C. P. Grosvenor, 
John G. W^hittier, and Charles Stuart. 

Adjourned to 3 o'clock this afternoon. 



Afteiikoon Session. 
On motion of S. E. Sewall, Esq., of Boston, 
Resolved, That the Committee on the ad- 
dress to the People of New-England, com- 
bine with it an address to the people of the 
United States. 

On motion of William Oakes, Esq. of Ips- 
wich, 

Resolved, Thatthccause of Anti-Slavery, 
embracing as it docs tiie objects of all the 
other benevolent institutions of our country, 
deserves the peculiar support, exertions, and 
sacrifices of its friends, and of the commu- 
nity. 

In support of his resolution, Mr. Oakes 
said : 

Mn. PuKsniENT — 1 need not labor long to 
prove my resolution. A single proinisition, 
which none will deny, will make it evident to 
every one. At jiresent, the two millions of 
slaves in the L'nitud States are wholly shut 
out from the benelits of all the benevolent 
inslltutionH and societies of our country. Wc 
seek the immediate abolition of slavery, and 
thus to extend, in ilie only possible manner, 
those benelits to the slaves. 

But let us consider tlic subject a little more 
in delnil. Let us consider the great divis- 



Speech of William Oakes, Esq. 



9 



ions, under some one of wliicli, all our be- 
nevolent and literary institutions and socie- 
ties may be ranked. 

1. Education. — This great cause, in all its 
departments, moral, intellectual, and relig- 
ious, employs the exertions of thousands of 
societies, and the time and talents of hun- 
dreds of thousands of our citizens, among 
whom are to be found many of the greatest 
minds in the country. 

But who, among all these, teaches the slave 
to read ? 

By the laws of several of the southern 
States, the high oftence of teaching a slave 
to read is punished at first by fine ; when re- 
peated, by severe imprisonment and death. 
In those States where such laws do not exist, 
universal custom, the power of public opin- 
ion rigidly -applied, and the settled fear of the 
consequences of such teaching, produce ex- 
actly the same effect as the law. I do not 
say that there is not a solitary exception, but 
such exceptions are solitarij indeed, and are 
therefore magnified and multiplied in the ears 
of the North, with the utmostsolicitude. We 
seek the abolition of slavery, that the slaves 
may be taught to read. 

2. The distribution of the Bible. — We have 
all heard of the enterprise of the American 
Bible Society in attempting to supply, with 
the aid of the Bible Societies of Europe, 
every family in the world with the Bible, in 
20 years. This great and glorious plan orig- 
inated, we are informed by the circular of 
the American Bible Society, in Virginia. On 
receiving that circular last year, I v.-as pecu- 
liarly struck with the zeal of the agent of 
the Virginia Bible Society. He truly states 
* that EACH of the heathen souls, to whom 
we send the gospel, is v/orth more than all 
the gold which could be produced in the whole 
world, though it were planted like wheat, 
and though each grain when produced, would 
become a bushel of gold.' He also says — 
these are his words, — 'Tgive you the stron- 
gest pledge that I speak from the heart, when 
I tell you, that, dearly as I love the Coloniza- 
tion Society, and strongly as you knov/ I have 
been urged to devote myself to its service, I 
have yet been constrained to decline that de- 
iightful office, and accept the agency of the 
Virginia Bible Society.' I looked through 
this gentleman's long letter, and through the 
numerous Resolutions of the Virginia Bible 
Society on this subject, to see whether the 
case of any of the half million heathen souls 
of Virginia were present in the minds either 
of the Society or its agent. I hope, and, in- 
deed, I can hardly doubt, that they were — 
for the letter of the agent strongly enforces 
*the duty of preachinir the Gospel to every 
creature in the world ; ' and though they cer- 
tainly do not directly mention the slaves, yet 
from thoir phrase, ' the reading population of 
the world,' it is probable that they had looked 

2 



at their case, on one or the other side of the 
way, at least. Bat they do i77sist, that 
all the 'reading population ' of all the ends 
of the earth, in China, in Iceland, in New 
Holland, in Greece, in Rome, and in Liberia, 
and every other part of the world, shall be 
supplied in 20 years, if possible. 

Vie seek to abolish slavery, that the slaves 
may be a reading population, and may be 
supplied with the Bible. 

3. The preaching of the Gospel. — So little 
provision is made for the religious instruction 
of tlie slaves in any way, and so much dis- 
couragement and restraint arc laid upon the 
preacliing of the gospel to them, that they 
are in general, practically in a state of abso- 
lute heathenism. Many retain their African 
superstitions, but the greater part have lost 
the religion of their fathers, without receiv- 
ing any other in return. A great part are 
ignorant of even the being of a God, and 
only know the sound of his name from the 
oaths which they hear. Yet these two mil- 
lions of heathen are our countrymen — our 
iiivnediate neighbors. To preach the gospel 
to them, it will not be necessary to instruct 
our missionaries in difficult foreign languages, 
or to print the Bible in Chinese or Arabic 
characters. 

But these slaves cannot receive the chris- 
tian religion from their masters, even if they 
were ardently desirous to give it to them. — 
For how can a slaveholder declare the whole 
counsel of God, holding the whip in one hand, 
and the Bible in the otiieV, and utterly refus- 
ing to obey the great precept of Christianity ? 
We seek the abolition of slavery, that the 
gospel may be preached to the slaves. 

4. Humanity. — All the slaves of the south 
together, cannot make a single witness. Of 
what avail, then, are laws, which can never 
be executed ? Their persons and their lives 
are left totally to the absolute control of their 
masters. Vie call upon the whole south to 
show a single instance, in which a slavehol- 
der has been capitally, or even severely pun- 
ished for the murder of his slave. They are 
generally considered as cattle, and are con- 
tinually "bought, sold, and exchanged ; hus- 
band from wife, parent from child, and friend 
from friend. The northern slave States are 
now ridding themselves from the 'curse of 
slavery,' by sending in droves every year, 
thousands of slaves from the place of their 
nativity, dearer to a slave than to a freeman, 
as it is often to him the only known and fix- 
ed spot in the ocean of existence, to be sold 
in the new and unhealthy climate of the far 
south, where the human stock, which is pro- 
duced with so much labor and selection in 
the northern slave States, finds a ready mar- 
ket, and a quick consumption. 

Is not the cause of abolition the cause of 
humanity ? 



10 



Minutes of the JVtto- England Anti-Slavery Convention. 



5. Liberty. — The sound of this word would 
once have thnllyd every American bosom. — 
But at the present time in our country, per- 
haps from the constant and too universal en- 
joyment of her blessings, we have become 
blind to her charms and deaf to her voice. 
Still, however, Liberty is a good thing in 
Greece and in Poland. Even in this countrv, 
a little zeal for Liberty may be overlooked 
in some, though not in those who wish for 
the abolition of slavery. But this is an ex- 
citing subject, and I will not speak though I 
burst, for fear of affronting our friends both 
at the Soulli and the North ; we will not in 
vain ask them to 'pardon a little to the spirit 
of Liberty.' 

The Union of our country, though not an 
object of any benevolent Society, is justly 
dear to every one of us. Permit me, in il- 
lustration of this point, and of the proper 
means of preserving this Union, to relate an 
anecdote. 

Tiie too much indulged boy of a kind and 
worthy father, when he was in want of any 
favor from him, was in the habit of mountinof 
the roof of the house, walking down to the 
eaves, and seeing his father in the yard, cry- 
ing out to him, ' Father, if you do not do as 
I say, I will certainly jump off.' The af- 
fectionate old father, terrified to see him on 
the precipitous edge, cried out, 'My son, my 
son, come down, come down ! I will grant 
your request. 1 am willing to do any thing 
for the sake of coxciliation.' 

Finally, Mr. President, if our cause em- 
braces the objects of all the benevolent in- 
stitutions in tlie country, we are bound to 
give it our peculiar support. \Vhcn with our 
friends we go out to cultivate the great field 
of benevolence, and know that they are prej- 
udiced against a certain portion of that field, 
which we have found to be equally deserv- 
ing of cultivation with any other, will it not 
be our imperious duty to spend our whole 
eff!)rt3 upon this portion, confident that our 
neighbors will spend all theirs upon the other 
portions, and that thus the whole field will be 
cultivated ? But however furious our zeal 
for our favorite object, yet I fear tiiat even 
this apparently plain command of duty will 
not be obeyed. We shall still sec, as usual, 
abolitionists among the foremost and most 
active in every 'fanatical enterprise' of the 
day. But I hope, until our l)rptliren come in 
and bear their share of our burden, we shall 
spend the best of our moupy, the best of our 
time, and the best of our efforts, in the cause 
of anti-slavery. 

f)n motion of Rev. Moses Thnrher of 
North Wrentham, it was unanimously 

Roflolvod, Thnl be a committee to 

inquire into the pxprdi^nry nf recommend- 
ing to the American Anti-Slavery Sncietv 
the oficr of a premium of dollars for 



every cwt. of merchantable cotton ; for 
every cwt. of rice; for every cwt. of 
sugar; and for hhds. of molasses, of a 
good and merchantable quality : — such pre- 
mium to be paid upon satisfactory evidence 
being presented that such articles are the 
produce of free labor in any part of the Uni- 
ted States. 

Mr. T. said that, while he had been for 
many years, a warm and decided abolitionist 
in principle, he had found his practice rather 
at war with his principles. The language of 
the Bible is—' Be not partakers of otlfer men's 
sms.' It is commonly thought that New- 
England is free from the heinous sin of sla- 
very. But is it so, Mr. President .' How 
many articles of dress, and of food— even of 
those which we suppose ourselves hardly 
able to dispense with, — are the products of 
slave labor? Is there a gentleman or lady 
in this hall, who has not about their persons, 
some of those articles, which usually involve 
this kind of labor ? But to use these articles, 
what is it but to hold out an inducement to 
slaveholders to continue slavery ? What is 
it but to offer a premium on the labor of his 
slaves ? Is there a manufactory in New- 
England, whose walls are not built up in the 
siglis, and tears, and groans of bondage ? 

Mr. T. said he was not in favor of attempt- 
ing to HIKE men to abandon bad practices, 
but he could not avoid wishing that the reso- 
lution he offered, under some form or other, 
which should retain its substance, might pass. 
Mr. T. said he rarely, if ever, entered a gro- 
cery to purchase articles which he had usually 
thought were family necessaries, without his 
conscience reproaching him; and that he 
continually felt that the subject was involved 
in difficulties. So intense were his feelings 
on tlie subject, that he was sometimes asliam- 
ed to hold up his head, or to appear in the 
presence of his fellow citizens. 

Mr. Charles Stuart, of England, begged 
permission to relnte an adecdotc. Many 
years ngo, when efforts were first made in 
England to abolish slavery, some friends of 
abolition went so far as to refuse to use 
articles which were the products of slave 
labor. At length, however, their conscien- 
tiousness wore off. About this time, a slave- 
holder from the West Indies, and an aboli- 
tionist, were riding togother, in the north of 
England in a coach. The abolitionist en- 
deavored to draw the West Indian into con- 
versation on his favorite topic. At length, 
the latter looking him up in the face, said 
with a smile— 'Yes, I know that sometime 
ngo, wo were threatened with the loss of our 
slaves, but since you havt^ returned to your 
old iiAHiTs, we rare nothing about your Anti- 
Slavery.' 

Rev. E. M. V. Wells, of Boston, and one 
of the secretaries, Mr. Perry, of Mcndon, 



Speerh of Ainasa Walker^ Esq. 



11 



also addressed the meeting on the subjects 
involved in the resolution. Mr. Wells thought 
it our duty as consistent abolitionists to ab- 
stain from the use of tlie products of slave 
labor, without regard to consequences. Mr. 
Perry thought our inconsistency in this re- 
spect one of the ' condemning ' sins of the 
land. 

Rev. Henry Grew, of Boston, said he met 
with difficulty on this subject; that of late 
he had, in one instance, sought in more than 
forty shops for sugar which was not the pro- 
duct of slave labor. He had at length suc- 
ceeded, and it was the sweetest sugar he 
had ever had in his family. 

The following gentlemen were appointed 
a Committee on Mr. Thacher's resolution : 
Messrs. Henry Grew, Samuel Foster, and 
Henry E. Benson. 

On motion of Rev. George Bourne of New- 
York city, seconded by Wm. Lloyd Garrison, 
the following preamble and resolution were 
adopted : 

Whereas slaveholding cannot be reconci- 
led with a profession of Christianity ; and 
whereas the existing connexion of slavery 
with the christian churches in the United 
States constitutes the chief support of that 
ungodly system, and which is a stigma upon 
the cause of piety that ought without delay 
to be effaced — Therefore 

Resolved, That a committee be appointed 
to report an address to the christian public, 
declaratory of the opinions of the Conven- 
tion upon this solemn and most important 
subject. 

Mr. Bourne having briefly but very cogent- 
ly advocated his resolution, Messrs. Henry 
Grew, David Brigham, Wm. Lloyd Garrison, 
Moses Thacher, and Sewall Harding, were 
appointed a committee to prepare an address 
to the christian public. 

On motion of Rev, John Frost of Whites- 
boro', N. Y. it was unanimously 

Resolved, That every citizen, whether he 
belongs to a free or a slave State, is deeply 
interested in the subject of slavery, and not 
only has a right, but is in duty bound, to use 
his influence to abolish this system of injus- 
tice and oppression. 

Mr. F. sustained his resolution in an able 
manner, and in the course of his remarks 
made some statements respecting the inter- 
ruption of the Anti-Slavery meeting in Mid- 
dletown, (Ct.) and the gross violence used 
upon the persons of the gentlemen who spoke 
on that occasion. 

On motion of Rev. Joshua V. Himcs of 
Boston, it was unanimously 

Resolved, That it be recommended to all 
the friends of immediate emancipation to as- 



semble together on the 4th of July annually, 
and by public addresses on behalf of the col- 
ored citizens, and by taking collections in 
favor of the American Anti-Slavery Society, 
to hasten the period when the yoke of slave- 
ry shall be broken througiiout our country, 
and all the oppressed shall go free. 

On motion of Amasa Walker, Esq. the fol- 
lowing preamble and resolution were adopt- 
ed : 

Whereas more than two millions of native 
Americans are held in cruel and degrading 
bondage in the midst of us — Therefore 

Resolved, That 'the land of FREEnoivi ' 
is a phrase inapplicable to the United States 
of America, and ought not to be used by any 
real friends of universal liberty until slavery 
be abolished. 

Mr. Walker said, that the Resolution he 
had the honor to submit, was suggested to 
his mind by the remark of a gentleman who 
addressed the Convention this morning, that 
we live in aland of freedom. Assembled as 
we were to take into consideration the evils 
of American Slavery; and after hearing the 
impressive remarks of the President of the 
Convention, with a mind deeply absorbed in 
the interesting and appalling subject, he must 
confess he was forcibly struck with the de- 
claration referred to, that wo live in a land 
of freedom. He knew, indeed, that this ex- 
pression was one of common, nay universal 
use ; yet it appeared to him as extremely in- 
congruous to the present occasion. It seem- 
ed a contradiction to the whole spirit and 
tenor of all we had done, and all we intend- 
ed to do. The enquiry came home to his 
mind with irresistible force, — Is the term, 
'the land of freedom,' applicable to the Uni- 
ted States of America; and ought we ever 
to use that term while slavery exists in our 
country, and is sanctioned by our govern- 
ment ? Both these enquiries, he said, re- 
ceived at once from his mind a decided and 
unequivocal negative ; and believing that 
some useful purpose might be answered by 
bringing the subject before the Convention, 
he had taken the liberty of submitting the 
resolution now upon the table. 

Mr. W. said he was aware that the asser- 
tion made in the former part of the resolu- 
tion, might appear bold, and perhaps pre- 
sumptuous. It certainly was at variance 
with public sentiment. ' The glorious land 
of liberty ' had long been the boast of our 
people, and had been re-echoed through the 
land at every returning anniversary of our 
national Independence. Yet it was a fact, 
and the sooner we felt it the bettor, that we 
live in a land of Slavery, bitter, unalleviated 
Slavery ; above all other lands, emphatically 
so. In contradistinction to other civilized 
nations, we call ourselves a free people. 
We point acroBS the Atlantic to the empires 



12 



Minutes of the JSTew-England Anti-Slavery Convention. 



of Europe, and thank God that we are not 
like other men ; that while tliey are groan- 
ing under ancient, feudal despotisms, we are 
free and happy. But how empty, how vain, 
was this boast! Where shall we tind slave- 
ry in its most aggravated and direful forms; 
in Europe or America? We express and 
feel great commiseration for the oppressed 
and half paid operatives of England; for the 
ignorant, degraded, half-starved peasantry of 
Ireland; but what was their condition, what 
their sufferings, compared with two millions 
of our own population ? They, poor and 
miserable indeed as they were, could not be 
bought and sold like cattle; the sanctity of 
their domestic relations could not be violated 
with impunity by every lawless oppressor; 
parents could not be torn from their children, 
or the husband separated from the wife of 
his bosom ; nor were their females exposed 
to universal dishonor, without the least pro- 
tection from the civil law. No, sir. And if 
we go to semi-barbarous Russia, to find 
slavery that shall form a parallel to ours, we 
cannot find it even there. The serfs of the 
Autocrat have some rights, and the Russian 
boor is tlic laivjul possessor of his own wife 
— the allowed protector of his own offspring. 
Nor even in the last stage of European civ- 
ilization, among tiie subjects of the Grand 
Seignor himself, do we find human degrada- 
tion so complete and awful, as exists amonj 
the unfortunate colored people of this boast- 
ed land of liberty. Go where we will, we 
soarclj in rain for a despotism like ' the des- 
potism of freedom.' Lot us, then, (continued 
Mr. W.) spare our errant sympathies, which 
we are proud to lavish bountifully on the 
miserable of otiier lands, for our own still 
more unfortunate countrymen. 

The guilt of slavery is not a local, a par- 
tial guilt. It is strictly national ; it is iden- 
tified with our government; it exists, in its 
full extent, in the capital of our country, un- 
der the immediate laws of Congress ; and is 
fully and unequivocally acknowledged as one 
of the established legal institutions of this 
nation. 

Mr. W. said he would add nothing further 
to Kubstanli.ite the first part of the resolu- 
tion, but would advert, briefly, (for ho did not 
come there prepared or expecting to make a 
Hpopch,) l<i the- othir position, viz. that the 
term, ' land of freedom,' as at present applied 
to our country, 'ou-jht not to bo used by any 
real frii-nd of nnivfrsal libertv.' It nuglit 
not so to be used, ho snid, not only because 
it wa« not a ju8t and proper term, and be- 
cauBc it was inconsistPiit for us to do ho, but 
because it had a temloncy to paralyze' the 
public mind to the hubjccl of Hlav»"'ry. It 
was a Hclf dcce|)tion; it was u concoalment 
of a great and glaring fact ; it tended to s.>ar 
the coiiHcirnccH of men, and create a self 
complacency nltogcthcr unwarranted by the 



true state of the case. It was an attempt to 
cover up our national sin, and it contemned 
that declaration of Holy writ, that Avhoso 
covereth his sins shall not prosper, but he 
that confesseth and forsaketh his sins shall 
find mercy. So let us do, said Mr. W. Let 
us frankly and honestly confess that we live, 
not in a land of liberty where all enjoy equal 
rights and privileges, protected by and ame- 
nable to Law ; but in a land where the right j 
of freedom depends upon the complexion of '/ 
the skin; where one sixth of the whole pop- 
ulation are held in a state of vassalage more 
revolting and dreadful than can be found in 
Christendom besides. Let us confess tliat, 
as a nation, we are disgraced. Let us no 
longer subject ourselvcs^'to be justly ridicu- 
led by all intelligent foreigners, as a people 
who, while they boast of the freest institu- 
tions on earth, and hold themselves up as the 
greatest models of justice and liberality, are 
yet the most cruel, uncompromising tyrants ; 
a people, who, while they proclaim 'abroad 
the great truth, 'that all men are born free 
and equal, and endowed by their Creator 
with certain inalienable rights, among which 
are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,' 
hold more tlian TWO MILLIONS of their 
fellow men in a state of abject servitude, de- 
prived of all personal rights, without any ade- 
quate protection of l{je, without the least 
vestige of liberty, and, as a body, without any 
possible means of pursuing happiness here, 
or being prepared for happiness in the world 
to come. 

It is high time, said Mr. W., that we call 
things by their right names ; that we look at 
facts as they arc, and bring down upon our 
minds the tremendous responsibility of being 
participators in the sin of enslaving our fel- 
low men. Let us not talk about ' Southern 
Slavery^ and ^. American Freedom.' Lotus 
not lay the flattering unction to our souls, 
that we are free from this guilt ; but let the as- 
tounding conviction come home to our hearts, 
that, as a nation, we are polluted; and that 
every individual in this great Republic must 
answer at the bar of God for the continued 
existence of this enormous iniquity. Mr. 
Walker closed his remarks by sayino- that 
he submitted the resolution with entire con- 
fidence, not doubting the reception it would 
meet with from an anti-slavery Convention. 

Rev. Mr. Grosvenor, of Salem, asked leave 
to correct one expression of Mr. Walker, 
that in our country, freedom depended upon 
the color of the skin. Mr. Grosvenor said 
that many slaves were as white, or even 
whiter, than th(>ir masters. He stated the 
introductory claiisn of the (Constitution of the 
Ilnitcd StatoK. 'We the people of the Uni- 
ted Statns. in order to form a more perfect 
union, rsltililislt jiistirr, ensure domestic tran- 
•luillity, provide for the common defence, pro- 
mote the f^encral welfare, and accurc the 



Remarks of Rev. Mr. Rand, Mr. Garrison, S;c. 



13 



blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our 
POSTERITY, do ordain and establish tliis Con- 
stitution for the United States of America.' 
He asked, are not the million of mulatto 
slaves a part of the 'posterity' of their white 
fathers ? And does not the Constitution 
guarantee to these slaves, at least, ihtir lib- 
erty? Surely, the Slaveholders ought to be 
looking up their '■posterity.^ The fact is well 
attested, that one slaveholder has seventij 
children in Slavery. His ' posterity ' will 
soon be numerous. 

Rev. Mr. Rand, of Lowell, thought that 
Mr. Walker, in offering his resolution, had 
departed from the ordinary and general use 
of words. He asked, is not this a land of 
Literature and of Religion, although periiaps 
a large majority of our people possess neith- 
er? A very great majority of the people of 
the United States were in the enjoyment of 
freedom, and it seemed improper for us, who 
formed a part of that majority, to deny that 
it was a land of freedom. He begged to re- 
late an anecdote, to illustrate his meaning. 
A christian professor, rather exclusive in his 
feelings, always used to ask grace in the fol- 
lowing manner: 'God bless 7?ie and my wife, 
7ny son and his wife, us four, and no more.' 

Mr. C. C. Burleigh, of Brooklyn, Ct. said 
that slavery was upheld by the Laws of half 
of the Union, and that the Constitution of 
the United States was generally considered 
to sanction slavery. 

William Oakes, Esq. of Ipswich, said, that 
the question seemed to be, whether this was 
a land of slavery. The United States held 
a greater number of slaves than any other 
country in the world, with the exception, 
perhaps, of Brazil, and a large majority of the 
voters of the United States were yet in favor 
of the continuance of slavery. 

Mr. Garrison said, there was ever an ab- 
surdity in attempting to establish a self-evi- 
dent proposition. He had never considered 
the sacred strife that was agitating the na- 
tion, as having exclusive reference to the 
emancipation of two millions of southern 
slaves : it aimed at the redemption of tJie 
whole land — of thirteen millions of people. 
We were all in bondage. He could not 
deem this a land of freedom, while in one 
half of it he could not denounce tyranny 
without perilling his life. We possessed 
neither the liberty of speech nor of the press. 
Was there not a reward of five thousand 
DOLLARS still offered for his seizure, because 
he had ventured to assail a most execrable 
and bloody despotism ? Even at the north, 
his personal security from outrage and ab- 
duction was by no means certain. Thought 
— utterance — action — the press — the pulpit 
— the bench — the bar — all were held in ser- 
vile bondage. It was, therefore, not merely 
an abuse of language, but an outrage upon 



common sense ; it was consummate hypoc- 
risy and glaring falsehood, to call ours a 
free country. When all unequal laws, hav- 
ing respect to the color of the skin, shall 
have been universally expunged from the 
statute-books, and prejudice scouted as a 
fiend, and the cord of caste burnt to ashes, 
and every chain broken, and every captive 
set free ; when the time sliall have arrived 
that, in any part of our republic, it will be 
safe and honorable to assail tlie oppressor as 
the enemy of his species ; then — and not 
till then — may we truly call this ' the land 
OF FREEDOM.' He trustcd the resolution 
would pass unanimously. 

On motion of Rev. Mr. Grosvenor, 

Resolved, That a committee be raised to 
collect information from members of the 
Convention, respecting the progress of the 
anti-slavery cause. 

Messrs. Horace P. Wakefield, Wm. Lloyd 
Garrison, and Albert Hinckley, were ap- 
pointed on that committee. 

Adjourned to 8 o'clock, Wednesday morn- 
ing-. 



Wednesday, May 28. 

The Convention was opened with prayer 
by Rev. Mr. Saowden of Boston. 

The minutes of the previous meeting hav- 
ing been read — 

The Committee on the Manual Labor 
School made a favorable report, and submit- 
ted sundry resolutions, which, .after an inter- 
esting debate, were unanimously adopted. 

The Committee on Slavery in the District 
of Columbia made a report, which was ac- 
cepted. 

On motion of Rev. S. L. Pomroy of Ban- 
gor, Me. it was unanimously 

Resolved, That a Committee of five be 
raised to ascertain, in behalf of this Conven- 
tion, whether the academies, female board- 
ing schools, colleges, asylums for the blind 
and for the deaf and dumb, for the reforma- 
tion of juvenile delinquents, and institutions 
of a similar character in New-England, are 
willing to admit colored youth to their privi- 
leges on terms of equality with others, and 
report in such time and way as they shall 
think proper. 

The discussion of this Resolution, and of 
the first Resolution on the Manual Labor 
School, brought before the Convention sev- 
eral most interesting facts. 

Some gentleman in the Convention having 
stated that some of the Colleges of New- 
England were already open to colored men, 
Rev. William C. Munroe, of Portland, (a 
colored person,) rose and stated that he also 
had heard that certain Colleges of New-Eng- 



14 



J\rinutes of the JVcw-England Anti-Slavery Convention. 



land would receive colored pupils, and that 
Mr. John B. Russwurm, Mr. Edward Jones, 
and Mr. Prince Saunders, had in fact obtain- 
ed their education in Bowdoin, Auiherst and 
Dartmouth Colieofes. He applied for admit- 
tance to these colleges, but met with an im- 
mediate rejection, or was offered admittance 
only on such degrading terms, as no one who 
had any sense of the rights of man would 
accept. The account given by Mr. Munroe 
of the successive rejection which he expe- 
rienced, must have touched the heart of 
every friend of Education. 

Rev. Mr. Perry, of Mendon, stated the as- 
tounding fact, that application had been made 
to the Institution for the Blind, for the ad- 
mittance ofaWmf/coiored boy from Uxbridge, 
Mass. of excellent disposition and remark- 
able capacity, but he had been refused on 
account of his fo/or.' The Principal of tlie 
Instiuition, Dr. Ilowe, known as tiie friend of 
humanity in Greece, stated candidly to the 
applicants the reason for his rejection. We 
may, he said, have some pupils from the 
South, and if we admit this blind colored boy 
into our Institution, it may make it unpopular 
there. 

Mr. Garrison said he had a letter which 
had been put into his hands some time since 
by the gentleman to whom it was addressed, 
(Effingham L. Capron, a member of the Mas- 
.sachusctts Legislature, and one of the Vice 
Presidents of the Convention.) which he 
would read in confirmation of the melancholy 
and disgraceful fact disclosed by Rev. Mr. 
Perry. 

Mendon, Jan. 13, 183-1. 
Dkau Sir : 

The Lejjislalure, last winter, granted 5^000 a 
year to the Iiislituiion for the instruclion of llie hlind, 
on condition that tlioy should receive and educate 
twenty poor hlind children, providing- so many ap- 
plied ; application was lo be made at the Secretary's 
nlfice, heforc the moinh of !\[,iv last, at which lime 
ihc Governor, if there should he more than twenty 
:ipnlicaiions. was to decide which should bo admit- 
ted. 

I caused the name of a poor colored boj' to' bo en- 
tered in duo season, hut lounil, on suhse(|uent incjui- 
ry, he was not admitted, notwillisianding there were 
only about 1'.; or 13 applications. The reason as- 
siijned waf, brrausr he had a rnlored skin ! .' I called 
on the (lovcrnor, sometime since, and he informed 
ino that he had no olijeciions to pranlini; him a ccr- 
tificnle; but the trustees of the InstitutioH objected. 
He also informed mt; ili.it liie Institution received 
nearly ,sf:{<)(K) lasi yi-;ir fr.im the unexpended appro- 
prialfon to the Deaf an<l Dumb, niakinfj about ^IKHKI 
(rom the .Stale last year. I understand the objec- 
tion made by Dr. IIowk, who seems to be the prin- 
cipal of the Institution, i<i. if they should have pupils 
from the south, their parents nr frii'u<ls would not 



The boy is about 11 years old, very act! re and 
robust, and 1 feel very anxious he should receive the 
bencfiis of that Institution. 

Yours respectfully, 

BENJAMIN DAVENPORT. 

Effingham L. Caprou. 

Mr. Garrison commented at some length, 
in terms of generous indignation, upon the 
inhumanity of this exclusion, and stated that 
irieasurcs would be taken to lay the facts be- 
fore the Legislature at its next session. He 
had never seen a more malignant and deplo- 
rable exhibition of prejudice. In view of it, 
language could not express the shame, and 
disgust, and horror which he felt. 

Another fact, not less remarkable, was 
stated, that application had been made for 
the admission of a colored boy into the House 
of Reformation of Juvenile Offenders at 
South Boston, but that the application had 
been rejected. It appeared that hardly any 
doors but those of our State Prisons, were 
open to our colored brethren. 

The Committee on expenses of Conven- 
tion presented the following as their Report, 
which was accepted : 

Resolved, That the members of this Con- 
vention, and other Gentlemen disposed, be 
and they are hereby requested to pay one 
dollar each, and that any Gentleman have the 
liberty of paying as much more as he may 
choose. 

The Committee would add, that from the 
best information they have been able to get 
on this subject, the sum thus raised would 
defray the expense of the Hall, and of pub- 
lishing the doings of the Convention. 
Per order, 

AARON PICKET, 

Chairman of Committee. 

Adjourned to meet at half past 7 o'clock 
in the evening. 



bkr to have iheni in the itanir school with colon . 
children I I am not aware that the l,<';;iklAturu in- 
Icndrd any <lisiinrlion of color whrn ihi'v made the 
prani, nor do I bcli<:ve they woulil rountcnanre it. 

I hope you will take measures to hrinjj up the sub- 
jrci bcforo tho Legiblalurc, and see what can be 
done. 



Evening Session. 

The evening session of the Convention, 
for the passage of resolutions and the deliv- 
ery of addresses, was opened with prayer by 
tho Rev. Mr. Ide of Medway, followed by 
singing performed by the Juvenile Colored 
Choir, under tlio charge of Miss Susan Paul. 

The President made a short but forcible 
address to the crowded assembly. 

Wo have invited you this evening, he ob- 
served, to urge upon your minds, and yotir 
hearts, too, a most important subject. "Wc 
would urge upon you acaltn consideration of 
the stifferings of the millions for whom wo 
plead. We are told , it is true, that the slaves 
at the South arc vastly happier than the free 
colored population, Btit wc do not believe 
it. Wc think wc jiavo abundant evidence 
that this is not the fact. Grant, for the mo- 



Letter from Rev. Simeon S. Jocelyn. 



15 



ment, hnwever, that it were true. Grant that 
the slaves are happier. What sort of happi- 
ness is it? What, indeed, but mere animal 
happiness.' Grant, as it is uisisted (which, 
however, we know is not the fact) that, as 
animals, the slaves are kindly treated. Still, 
we ask, what is done for their minds,— their 
immortal minds ? Ay, what, indeed is done 
but to depress instead of elevate the immor- 
tal part of the human being, and keep down 
if possible, the growing thirst for liberty ? 
And what guilt like this ? — What is it but the 
highest sin which can be committed against 
a holy God ? What but to sin against the 
life of the soul — to murder it! 

Much has been said of late about an in- 
stance of soul murder which occurred in Eu- 
rope. And though it now appears to have 
been a fiction, how have our feelings, from 
Maine to Georgia, and from the Atlantic to 
the ' far west,' been harrowed up by it ? I 
allude to the story of Caspar Hauser. Yet 
have we not 2,000,000 of similar cases before 
our eyes, in our own country? And shall 
we remain indifferent ? It must not— it can- 
not — it will not be. We appeal to you then, 
in behalf of these suffering, persecuted, soul 
destroyed millions. We beseech you to hear 
us, and consider and weigh well the matter — 
as Christians— as Christian patriots — as 
friends of humanity. 

The following letter Avas read from Rev. 
Simeon S. Jocelyn of New-Haven, Ct. 

New-Haven, May 24th, 1834. 
B. C. Bacon, Esq. 

Dear Sir — I regret exceedingly my ina- 
bility to attend the New-England Anti-Sla- 
very Convention at Boston, on the 27th inst. 
Being one of the individuals who publicly 
invited our friends to convene for the pur- 
poses which will be discussed at your meet- 
ing, it may be proper that I should express 
my regret to the Convention through you, 
that I cannot be with you in accordance with 
my strong desire. 

I rejoice at the signs of the times, in ref- 
erence to the spread of Gospel principles af- 
fecting the cause of the oppressed. These 
principles which we have proclaimed, and on 
which, under God, we rely for the temporal 
and spiritual salvation of the enslaved, and 
for the salvation of our country, will soon be 
so imbedded in the hearts of the people, that 
no sophistry can shake them, no power can 
retard their progress. Love of popularity, 
and the esteem of those who are in lionor- 
able and public stations, is so universal, that 
we should, in the sacred cause of Emancipa- 
tion, be conscious of our danger when we 
see our principles of abolition deeply inter- 
esting the minds of not a few in important 
stations, who, but a short time since, not only 
denounced our measures, but disputed our 
principles, so as now to secure in a great 



degree their consciences, and to lead them 
to act on the great question of American 
Slavery— for its overthrow. These men, 
among whom are many excellent, influential, 
and 1 may add, conmianding minds, will 
either come into our Societies, or will, as is 
already suggested, attempt the formation of 
another national society, modified in its char- 
acter, to embrace at once those who shrink 
from the immediate and death-like grasp 
with which we must under God lay hold of 
the monster, who lauglis at the tears of the 
oppressed and riots in the blood of his vic- 
tims. Should they come to us, fidelity to 
God, to the oppressed, and to their own souls, 
demands that we should hold up the simple 
and piercing doctrine of our Declaration Ibr 
their adoption. Great kindness, patience and 
forbearance should be exercised towards 
men, who, on this subject, seem to look as 
through the veil which Colonization has 
placed before all eyes ; but until they can 
espouse the whole truth, and defend our 
'form of sound words,' they cannot claim our 
confidence, nor expect to direct in our coun- 
cils. Our watchword, Immediate Emancipa- 
tion, (said to be so revolting and indefinite,) 
cannot be bettered. It is the most graphic 
language descriptive of our doctrine, which 
man can invent. It must through all circum- 
stances be retained, until it is lost in the 
jubilee of earth and heaven, when its ob- 
jects of pity and love shall rise from the dust, 
and sing the song of deliverance. What- 
ever may be the course of others, and the 
attempts which may be made to accommo- 
date their views to the multitude, let us re- 
member that we shall prevail if we trust in 
the Lord, and lean not to our own under- 
standing, nor to the views of those who 
would embrace us if we would consult with 
flesh and blood ; so far at least as to humor, 
for the time being, the errors and prejudices 
which they deem of no importance, but which 
we deprecate as the pestilence which walk- 
eth in darkness, and wasteth at noon day. 
Let us at the throne of grace plead for wis- 
dom to guide us in all our public assemblies, 
and in all our individual duties. 
I am, dear Sir, yours, 
In the cause of freedom and of Christ, 
SIMEON S. JOCELYN. 

Charles Stuart, Esq. of England, being in- 
troduced to the audience, offered the follow- 
ing resolution, which was seconded by the 
Rev. John M. S. Perry, and adopted unani- 
mously, with the exception of a single JVo. 

Resolved, That immediate emancipation 
is the only right and sufficient remedy for 
slavery. 

On motion of Rev. S. L. Pomroy, of Ban- 
gor, seconded by Wm. Lloyd Garrison, it 
was unanimously 



IG 



Mnittes of the jVeui- England Anli-SlaverJf Convention. 



Resolved, That no valid objection can be 
urged against tlic principles and measures of 
the American Anti-Slavery Society. 

Mr. James A. Tiiome, of Kentucky, was 
introduced, and offered a scries of interest- 
ing and emphatic remarks upon the wicked- 
ness and evils of that prejudice which exists 
against the people of color. 

Prof. Follen, of Cambridge, offered a reso- 
lution with reference to the expediency of 
forming an Emancipation Fund Society, 
which he supported in a short speech, and 
which, after some discussion, was laid upon 
the table. 

The Rev. John O. Clioules, of New-Bed- 
ford, made a brief but eloquent speech, at 
the conclusion of wliich the meeting adjourn- 
ed to the next morning at 8 o'clock. 



Thursday, May 29. 

The Convention was opened with prayer 
bv the Rev. John Frost, of Whitesboro', 
N. Y. 

After reading the minutes of yesterday, 
the following letter was read from Mr. Rob- 
ertB. Hall of New-Haven, and was put upon 
the files of the Convention: 

New Haven, May 22, 1834. 

My Dear Sir : — It is a source of unfeign- 
ed regret to me, to assure you, that I shall 
be unable to be present with you in the sol- 
emu convocation which you soon propose to 
hold, of the friends of immediate and univer- 
sal emancipation. But, though detained by 
the providence of God from being with you 
in the body, my whole heart will be with you, 
wiih its most "fervent supplications, for the 
blessing of the Almighty to abide upon you. 

It is impossible for me to describe the in- 
tensity of interest witii which I have looked 
forward to this Convention, regarding it as I 
do, as an event pregnant witli momentous 
consequences to untold generations. Upon 
this mooting, under CJod, rests the solemn 
responsibility of determining what shall be 
the slamlard of public sentiment in our dear 
New-England, in reference to the abolition 
of slavery in tiiis guilty land. And in de- 
termining what shall be the public sentiment 
nf New-England, you solve, in my estima- 
lion, the grunt question, whether the princi- 
ples of iimnediale emancipation shall prevail. 
Ncw-Enirland, — let them gainsay it who will, 
■ — New- England is the fountain of pure moral 
HoniiuHMit in this nation. It was so in the 
boginning of our natimuil existence; it is so 
it this moment; and I trust in (Jod it ever 
will he : f'lr there are inlluonccs abroad here, 
prosf-rvin ' and purifying, wjiich do not exist 
ulseN^jirro on the globo. In the ligiit of these 
•■'Milimenls, I look forward, then, with no 

light degree of anxiety to the issue of your 



deliberations. My faith is strong, however, 
that the pure principles of our cause will be 
preserved in their freshness and vigor — that 
strong, uncompromising attachment will be 
manifested to ihe simple doctrine which is 
the very corner-stone of our holy cause. A 
disposition has appeared within the last year, 
among many professed friends of the cause, 
to flitter away with needless explanations 
that sacred principle. Expunge the princi- 
ple of immediate emancipation from our creed, 
nay, even adulterate it, and all is lost ! We 
may go on — cheered with the smiles of the 
great — with all the potency which wealth 
can give us, and float upon the gliding bil- 
lows of a deceitful popularity — but the glo- 
rious consummation which we so devoutly 
wish wilt not, cannot be accomplished :— ^for ! 
the blessing of our God will be withheld, and i 
his withering frown will blast the designs of 
the timid and temporising. 

There is one subject which lies very near 
my heart, which I hope will be brought be- 
fore the convention ; I refer to the Monthly 
Concert of Prayer, in behalf of the colored 
population. The importance of a regular 
observance of this sacred season, must be 
apparent to ail who have just views of the 
nature of our cause, and of the source from 
which we may expect success. Our cause 
is eminently the cause of God ; we know 
tliat he loves it — for we have the evidence of 
his word, and the broad seal of his Divine 
approbation. It is a remarkable fact also, as 
I have discovered by attentively observing 
the workings of his Providence, that since 
this Concert has been cstuhlisltcd, the cause 
has rolled forward with unparalleled velocity, 
and the friends of the slave have been mul- 
tiplied, even as drops of the dew. What 
bettor means can be devised to reach tho 
Christian's heart, than to bring him to the i 
place ' where prayer is wont to be made,' and 
tiiere spread out the wants of his sullering ^ 
brethren, and call upon him to unite in the 
Pdlemn petition for succor, to his Heavenly 
Father.^ It is through the Christian church I 
mainly, I firmly believe, that the abolition of; 
slavery is to be brought about. While tiie ; 
chnrcii sleeps on, and suffers her powerful 
energies to be paralyzed by the fell demon, 
no hope remains. And who but God, with 
the gentle strivings of -his Holy Spirit, can 
arouse Iier from this fearful slumber.^ 
And lias ho not declared that it is his will, 
that for this thing also iio will be 'inquired 
of? Lot us, tliotr, realise the importance 
of this measure, and let our conduct evince 
that our professions in reference to this sub- 
ject, are not insincorc. 

I do most ardently hope that the conven- 
tion will appreciate this ijubjcct, and by en- 
ergetic and united endeavors, will strive to 
secure a general and punctual observance of 
this season. 



Resohdlons, SyC. 



17 



\Vlulx5 you are engaged in the holy %vork, 
in which it will not bo my privilege to bear 
a part, may the blessing of the Highest over- 
shadow you, and direct all yout doliberutions 
tor the advancement of his glory, and the 
good of our fellow men ! 

I am, my dear Sir, with cordial esteem, 
Your humble co-worker in tiie best of causes, 
ROBERT B. HALL. 

Samuel E. Sewall, Esq. 

Mr. Garrison, from the Committee on the 
best means of effecting a more complete co- 
operation and union among the abolitionists 
of New-England, made a verbal report, upon 
which it was 

Voted, That the Committee have leave to 
sit again, with instructions to prepare an ad- 
dress, agreeably to the suggestions in the 
report now presented. 

The Convention then instructed the Com- 
mittee that they define the fundamental prin- 
ciple of anti-slavery to be immediate eman- 
cipation without expatriation. 

On motion of Rev. Mr. Woodbury, it Avas 

Resolved, That the true doctrine of anti- 
slavery is, immediate and unconditional eman- 
cipation. 

Voted, That the committee on expenses 
of Convention be authorized and requested, 
through their Chairman, to employ some one 
of their number, or some other person, to 
collect the dues that shall remain unpaid, so 
ftir as is practicable, after the adjournment 
of this Convention, and to settle the ex- 
penses. 

Mr. B. C. Bacon was appointed to make 
collections, &c. in accordance with the fore- 
going vote. 

Voted, That the collection taken last eve- 
ning and the collection to be taken this eve- 
ning be paid to the Treasurer of the New- 
England Anti-Slavery Society, in considera- 
tion of their early and severe struggles in the 
cause, and in consideration of their present 
wants. 

The Committee appointed to make inquiry 
respecting the interest taken in the Anti- 
Slavery cause, and to obtain facts, made a 
deport which was accepted. 

On motion of Mr. Garrison, 

Resolved, That it be recommended to the 
friends of abolition to celebrate, by appro- 
priate services, the first of August, 1834, it 
beinsr the day on which the slaves in the 
British Colonies cease to be property. 

On motion of Rev. J. V. Himes, it was 
unanimously 

Resolved, That this Convention earnestly 
recommend to all Christians, who are friend- 
ly to the immediate emanctpation of the slaves 
3 



in the United States, to meet on the fourth 
Monday evening in each uionth, to make 
supplications unto God, that Ho woidd save 
the nation from the dreadful judgments that 
v.-e so justly deserve ; that He would have 
mercy upon slaveholders, by leading tliem to 
immediate and heartfelt repentance ; that 
His blessing may attend the efforts made for 
the immediate emancipation of the slaves. 

The Committee on the Domestic Slave 
Trade made an elaborate report on that sub- 
jectjStating some most appalling facts as to its 
nature and extent, and showing clearly that 
Congress have the right to abolish it between 
the several States. 

On motion of William Oakes, Esq. of Ips- 
wich, 

Resolved, That we rejoice in the exer- 
tions now making by our free colored breth- 
ren to improve and elevate their intellectual, 
moral, and religious character; and whde 
every encourag(Mncnt and assistance ought 
to be given to these efforts, we hope that 
every free colored man will feel that a double 
responsibility is now laid upon him — that 
upon his conduct not only depends his oivn 
welfare, but in a great degree that of his 
race — and that all will therefore endeavor, by 
constant well doing, to put to silence the 
voice of prejudice and persecution. 

Mr. Oakes observed, that our colored 
friends, in general, already felt as they ought 
on this subject. Their late unparalleled ex- 
ertions for their improvement with little as- 
sistance, and their great and increasing suc- 
cess, showed how intensely they felt their 
situation and their responsibilities. But he 
wished that this responsibility could be 
brought home to ever; colored man. Every 
misconduct or crime committed by a colored 
man adds one link to tlie iron chain of pre- 
judice and cruelty, with which they are now- 
bound. Many will feel for their friends, 
who care little for themselves. Tell, then, 
every colored man who is guilty of any mis- 
conduct, that by this he is only assisting the 
enemies of his race in their exertions to per- 
petuate their derrvadaticn ; and when you 
have thus induced him to act for the benefit 
of others, you may also hope to lead him to 
act for the benefit of himself. 

The Committee appointed to inquire into 
the expediency of recommending to the 
American Anti-Slavery Society, to make the 
offer of a premium of such amount as they 
shall deem proper on certain articles produ- 
ced by free labor in any pnrt of the United 
States, made a report which was accepted. 

On motion of David L. Child, Esq. of Bos- 
ton, 

Resolved, That it is the duty of all the 
friends and well wishers of the anti-slavery 
cause, to inquire out, and encourage with 



18 



Minutes of the ^/'ew-England ^inti-Slavery Convention. 



their custom and their intiaence, those tav- 
erns, stages, and steamboats, wliich receive 
and accommodate onr colored fellow citizens, 
without making an illiberal and disgraceful 
distinction either of charges or of treatment 
on account of color. 

Voted, That Mr. Child be requested to 
furnish facts in relation to the abuse of col- 
ored persons, in respect to conveyance in 
steam-boats and stages. 

On motion of Air. Henry E. Benson, of 
Brooklyn, 

Resolved, That ministers of the gospel, 
of all denominations, lavorable to the anti- 
slavery cause, be respectfully and earnestly 
requested to deliver addresses on this sub- 
ject on the ensuing Fourth of July, and take 
up collections in aid of the funds of the 
American Anti-Slavery Society. 

On motion of Mr. Healy, of Pawtuckct, 
Resolved, That this Convention instruct 
the committee on a .Manual Labor School, to 
issue a circular to the Presidents of the sev- 
eral Anti-Slavery Societies, requesting them 
to lay the subject of the subscription for rais- 
ing funds for the establishment of a Manual 
Labor School, before the people in their vi- 
cinity, inviting them to subscribe to this no- 
bis object, and pay the same over to the 
Treasurer of each Society, and he transmit 
the same to the Treasurer of the New-Eng- 
land Anti-Slavery Society, or such other pel-- 
son as may be appointed to receive the same. 

On motion of Rev. C. P. Grosvenor, sec- 
onded by Mr. Barbadoes, 

Resolved, That the interests of the Anti- 
Slavery cause demand that special edbrts be 
made to multiply the subscribers to the Lib- 
erator. 

On motion of Samuel E. So wall, E-^q. 

Resolved, That a Committee of live be 
appointed to aid in extending the piitronatre 
of the Liberator. iNIessrs. Samuel E. Sew- 
all, Wm. Oakes, C. P. Grosvenor, Jas. G. 
Barbadoes, and II. E. Benson, were appoint- 
ed on that Conmiittee. 

On motion of Mr. James G. Barbadoes, 
Resolved, That Messrs. Garrison and 
Knapp deserve the cratitudo of the colored 
people and their friends, for their persever- 
ing exertions in pleading the cause of the 
oppressed. 

On motion of Mr. John T. Hilton, of Bos- 
ton, 

Resolved, That having put our hands to 
the Plotiyh of Liberty, we jriv(^ our t^acred 
plfdrro never to lonk back, until .nery root 
and hran<h of the noxious principle (If sla- 
very shall be exlirminatcd from the Ameri- 
can soil. 



The Committee appointed to draft an ad- 
dress to the Churches of the United States, 
reported an address which was adopted. 

On motion of Ellis G. Loring, Esq. of - 
Boston, / 

Resolved, That all laws of the New-Eng- 
land States, creating distinctions between 
the whites and colored persons, should be 
repealed, as contrary to reason, religion, and 
the theory of our institutions. 

On motion of Rev. Charles J. Warren, of 
Weymouth, 

Resolved, That it be recommended to the 
friends of immediate emancipation to hold 
Conventions, for the full discussion of this 
subject, in the several Counties, or other 
more convenient portions of our country. 

On motion of Nathan Winslow of Portland, 
Me. 

Resolved, That this Convention contem- 
plates with high satisfaction the formation 
of Female Anti-Slavery Societies; and that 
it regards the general co-operation of Amer- 
ican females, in the sacred cause of emanci- 
pation, essential to the overthrow of slavery 
in this republic. 

On motion of Albert Hinckley, of Pomfret, 
Ct. 

Resolved, That Miss Prudence and Miss 
Almira Crandall merit the warmest appro- 
bation of all friends of the colored race, for 
their persevering and untiring exertions to 
educate colored females, under a most bitter 
and unchristian persecution. 

Voted, That the Committee appointed to 
prepare an Address to the People, be re- 
quested to publish it with the i)rocecdings of 
the Convention. 

On motion of Rev. Mr. Grosvenor, of Sa- 
lem, 

Resolved, That the thanks of this Con- 
vention are cordially tendered to the Presi- 
dent for the courtesy, dignity, and patience 
with which he has presided during the long 
and laborious session now about to termi- 
nate. 

On motion of Samuel E. Sewall, Esq. of 
Boston, 

Resolved, That the thanks of this Con- 
vention be given to tiie Rev. Mr. Perry, and 
Mr. B. C. Bacon, the Secretaries, for tlic 
very faithful and attentive manner in which 
they have performed their laborious du- 
ties. 

Aftcrn very Bnlemnnnd impressive prayer 
by the Prcsidtnl, ii was, on motion. 

Voted, To adjourn 
o'clock in the cvcninir. 



to half past seven 



Report on Slavery in the Dlttrict oj Columbia. 



19 



Thursday Eve>mng. 

The meetinsf was opened with prayer by 
Rev. George Bourne, of New-York. 

The President made a few impressive in- 
troductory remarks ; after which a Hymn 
was sung with great sweetness, skill and 
effect by Miss Paul and her scholars. 

On motion of Rev. Mr. Bourne, 
Resolved, That as slaveholding is con- 
trary to the law of God and the precepts of 
Cliristianity ; and as slaveholders can exhib- 
it no just claim to be acknowledged aschri?:- 
tians, the existing connection of slavery witli 
the Christian Churches in the United States 
is inconsistent with the character of pure 
and undefiled religion ; and therefore ought 
immediately to be destroyed. 

On motion of Rev. John Frost, of Whitos- 
boro', N. Y. 

Resolved, That the doctrine of expedien- 
cy, i. e. making our views of the consequences 
of an action the ground of duty, instead of 
the known will of God or the acknowledged 
principles of rectitude, is fraught with dan- 
ger to the interests of the church, and tends 
inevitably to subvert the dearest rights of 
man. 

Rev. John Blain of Pawtucket next ad- 
dressed the meeting upon the subject of 
slavery in general, in an impressive speech. 

On motion of Mr. Thome of Kentucky, 

Resolved, That the principles of the Anti- 
Slavery Society commend themselves to the 
consciences and interests of slaveholders ; 
and that recent developements indicate the 
speedy triumph of our cause. 

Voted, That the thanks of this meeting be 
given to Miss Paul and her scholars, for the 
excellent entertainment they have furnished 
us this evening. 

Adjourned, sine die. 

S. J. MAY, President. 



J. M. S. PERRY, 
ii. C. BACON, 



Secretaries. 



la ;^s»c!)ia^Q9 



REPORT ON SLAVERY IN THE DISTRICT 
OF COLUMBIA. 

The Committee on Slavery in the District 
of Columbia, respectfully reports as follows : 

The District of Columbia contained in 
1830, GO.'SO slaves. 

This District, it cannotbe disputed, is un- 
der the exclusive jurisdiction of the govern- 
ment of the United States. That govern- 
ment, therefore, has the right of abolishing 
slavery there. And the people of the United 
States, as a nation, are responsible for the 



guilt and shame of the further continuance 
of the system there. 

The toleration of slavery at the seat of 
government has rendered it the centre of a 
great traffic in slaves, and led to other enor- 
mous abuses. The great duty of abolishing 
slavery and the slave trade in the District of 
Columbia, will be evident from the following 
preamble to resolutions on the subject, intro- 
duced by Mr. Miner, before the House of 
Representatives in 1829. 

' Whereas the laws in respect to slavery wiiliin 
the District have been almost entirely neglected ; 
from which neglect, for nearly 30 years, have grown 
numerous and gross corruptions. 

' Slave dealers, gaining confidence from impunity, 
have made the seat of fedcralgovernnient their head 
quarters for carrying on the domestic slave trade. 

' The public prisons have been extensively used, 
(perverted from the purposes for which they were 
erected,) for carrying on the domestic slave trade. 

' Officers of the federal government have been em- 
ployed, and derive emoluments from carrying on 
the domestic slave trade. 

' Private and secret prisons e.xist in the district for 
carrying on the traffic in human beings. 

' The trade is not confined to those who arc slaves 
for life; but persons having a limited time to serve, 
are bought by the slave dealers, and sent where re- 
dress is hopeless. 

' Others are kidnapped and hurried away before 
they can be rescued. 

' Instances of doaih, from the anguish of despair, 
exhibited in the District, mark the cruelty of this 
traffic. 

' Instances of maiming and suicide, executed or 
attempted, have been cxliibited, growing out of this 
traffic within the District. 

' Free persons of color coming into the District, 
are liable to arrest, imprisonment, and sold into sla- 
very for life, for jail fees, if unable, from ignorance, 
misfortune, or fraud, to prove their freedom. 

' Advertisements beginning, ' We will give cash 
for one hundred likely young negroes of both sexes, 
from eight to twentN'-five ^ears old,' contained in the 
public |)rints of the city, under the notice of Congress, 
indicate the openness and extent of t'lc traffic. 



Scenes of human beings exposed at public ven 

laws of the 
sroneral government 



due are exhibited here, permitted by the ! 



A grand jury of the district has presented th« 
slave trade as a grievance. 

' A writer in a public print in the District has set 
forth ' that to those who have never seen a spectacle 
of the kind (exhibited by the slave trade) no descrip- 
tion ran give an adequate idea of its horrors.' 

' To such an extent had this trade been carried in 
1816, that a member of Congress from Virginia in- 
troduced a resolution in the House, ' That a com- 
mittee be appointed to inquire into the existence of 
aninlutman and i/hsal traffic in slaves carried on in 
and through the District of Columbia, and report 
whether any, and what measures arc necessary for 
putting a stop to the same.' 

'The House of Representatives of Pennsylvania, 
at their last session, by an almost unanimous vole, 
expressed the opinion, ' that slavery within the Dis- 
trict of Columbia ought to be abolished.' 

' Numerous petitions from various parts of the 
Union have been presented to Congress, praying for 
the revision of the laws in respect to slavery, and the 
gradual abolition of slavery within the District. 

' A petition was presentol at the last session of 
Congress, signed by moro than one thousand inhab- 



20 



Minutes of the JVew-Eiigland Anti-Slavery Convention. 



itants of the District, praying for the gradual aboli- 
tion of slavery therein.' 

The facts stated in this preamble are un- 
questionable. 

The Committee do not think it necessary 
to adduce arguments, to prove that it is the 
duty of the people of the United States to 
abolish the atrocious and inhuman system 
which disgraces the seat of ourgovermnent. 
Justice, religion, and humanity, all cry out 
against it. Its abolition has been deferred 
so long, not because the people of the United 
States approve it, but because the citizens 
of the Nortlicrn States have not yet had 
the moral courage to express the feelings 
which they really entertain on the subject. 
It is because they have been unwilling to 
offend their Southern brethren, by proclaim- 
ing disagreeable truths. It is the pusilla- 
nimity of the north, which is the soul of sla- 
very and the slave trade in the District of 
Columbia. 

This system, wjiich is thus supported by 
the prejudices of tiie Soutli and the fears of 
the North, can be abolished, by an open and 
persevering attack upon it. Notliing is want- 
ing for this puposo, but strenuous and united 
exertion. The people are becoming every 
day more and more convinced that it ought 
no longer to be tolerated. 

The Committee therefore recommend the 
adoption of tho following resolutions : 

Resolved, Thai it bo recommended to every aiili- 
slavcry society to send a petiiion to Conjjrcss at its 
next session, liir tlio abolition of slavery iu the Dis- 
trict of Columbia. 

Resolved, 'I'liat llio followins; form of a petition 
for this |)urpose is ;ip|)rovcd by iliis Convention, and 
is recommended in ca»<^s in which no oilier form is 
convenient. 

Tu the Honorable Semite awl House of Represmita- 
tii'es of the UniUd Slates, in Congress assembled. 

'I'hc petition of the undersi;;ned. citizens of 

, respectfully represents — 'I'hnt they consider 
the toler.iiion of Slavery in the District of Colum- 
bia, as inconsistent with justice, humanity, and 
Christianity. 

Voiir peiilionnrs will not dwHI upon the riqfhls of 
dix thousand fellow m.-n, whom tlie laws of the Unit- 
ed Slalet rcliiin in al>i((i ■^crvilnde, or tiic physical, 
moral, und noliiical evih whirli spring directly from 
Slavery, nut. in ndiliiion In those re.isons for the 
inierferenrc of roni;rcss, the Domestic Slave Tr.ide, 
of which this District Ik iIi(> seal, is an enormous 
abuse which call< loudly lor redriss. The- District 
of Columbia is a f'reni market to whicii human llc^h 
Hiid Mood are alme>si ilaily *enl for s.de, from the 
Mii';li!.oiiii<; Stales, and there sold atj.iin to supply 
Ihi; MiarkeU of ihe more remote .Soulh. Your pell- 
lioneiKlneed not cnll to vour rerollerlion thi? eruel- 
lies which accompan^V this trallir, Ihe fellers which 
l>ind i1h> Slaves. Ihe whips with which lliev are driv- 
en, the auctions nl wliich they nrc sold. 1'hesc aro 



sij^hls oAei> before your eyes. Public and private 
prisons in the District arc ciowded with the wretch- 
ed subjects of this trade. Besides this, the permis- 
sion of this iratlic often leads to the enslaving of 
free men, who are sometimes kidnapped by vio- 
lence, and sometimes sold under the laws which 
Consfress permits. 

The laws in relation to people of color, which 
have been passed by the city of' W ashington, and 
siilVercd by Congress, are inhuman and disgraceful 
to a civilized community. 

Your petitioners, therefore, pray, that Congress 
will, wiiiiout delay, pass a slatnte to abolish, imme- 
diaicly. Slavery in the District of Columbia ; to de- 
clare every person coming into the District fiee; to 
annul all llio regulations and ordinances of any mu- 
nicipal corporation there, which make any distinc- 
tion of riglit between persons of dilferent colors ; 
and to provide for the education of all colored chil- 
dren in the District.* 

JOHN BLAIN, Chairman. 



* Note. The abolition of slavery in the District 
of Columbia can never be accomplished until the 
people send representatives to Congress, who are 
prepared to take a decisive stand in favor of this 
measure. It is, therefore, earnestly recommended 
to abolitionists, in every section of the country, to 
ascertain the opinions of candidates for Congress, 
upon this great subject, previously to the next elec- 
tion. Every candidate should he called on to de- 
clare explicitly whether he is in favor of the i/nme- 
diate abolition of s\avcTy in the District of Colum- 
bia. If he is, let him be voted for. But if he is not, 
or if he will not answer the question directly and un- 
equivocally, then the friends of abolition should set 
u|) a candidate for themselves, whose course they 
can de|)end upon. 

'J'hc question, whether the pco])le of the United 
States, as a nation, shall loleiate slavery at the seat 
of government, we consider as more important than 
any other which is likely to come before Congress. 
It is a great question of moral principle, — whether 
the nation shall continue to foster and encourage 
crime. Compared with this, all controversies of 
mere political expediency sink into insignilicancc. 
The nation incurs no guill by adopting a tarilT of 
high or one of low duties, or by establishing or re- 
fusing to establish a national bank, liut who can 
measure the guilt incurred by ilcnying our fellow 
citizens their rights as men ? 

This note is written without any authority from 
the Convonlion or the Conimitlee, and is therefore 
only lo be considered as expressing the views of in- 
dividuals. Ii is, however, believed that most aboli- 
tionists will concur in tho opinions we have ex- 
pressed. 



HKi'our ()\ Tin: I'ljocRF.ss oi" ruv. 

A.NTI-SI,A\ i:UY CAHSK. 

Tlio Coiiniiiltco, appointed to innko inqui- 
ry rcsporting the interest taken in the Anti- 
Slavery cause and to obtain fact.", have nt- 
tended to tlieir duty, and beg leave to report. 

\our Committee have not obtained nil tlio 
information they could wish, but have ro- 



Report on the progress of ths Anti-Slavery Cause. 



21 



ceived commnnications from' several dele- 
gates, and those of an interesting; cliaracter. 

The community, your Committee are 
ready to say, are waking up to this all im- 
portant subject. The scales are falling from 
their eyes ; one here and another there is 
enlisting on our side. The communications 
in detail, your Committee have no doubt, 
would be interesting to the Convention ; but 
since most of the important facts have ap- 
peared in the Liberator and other public 
prints, some of which are considerable long, 
and since the time of the Convention is very 
precious at this late moment, your Com- 
mittee would recommend the adoption of the 
following resolution : 

That the reading of the communications 
be dispensed with, and referred to the Com- 
mittee chosen to publish the doings of this 
Convention. 

All which is respectfully submitted. 
H. P. WAKEFIELD, Chairman. 



Salem a^jd 



Anti-Slavery Society of 
Vicinity. 
The Society was organized Jan. 27, 1S34. 
— Present number of members, 420; and 
many more are known to be ready to sign 
the Constitution. Among the members are 
11 clergymen. The Society has held eight 
public ineetings since its organization, and 
issued 1000 copies of its constitution. It 
has also published 1500 copies of an address 
delivered before the members, at their re- 
quest, by their President. 

This Society has been the cause of excit- 
ing a spirit of inquiry among very many of 
the people of Salem and vicinity. Rev. S. J. 
May has recently lectured in Danvcrs, and 
also in Salem, on the subject of Slavery, 
which will have a very favorable influence 
in exciting the minds of the people to this 
important subject. Our cause is evidently 
gaining ground very rapidly among the peo- 
ple of Salem and vicinity. 

Per request of a committee of the Society. 
RUFUS PUTNAM, Rcc. Sec. 

Lowell Anti-Slaveuv Society. 

The Lowell Anti-Slavery Society Avas 
formed in March last, with about GO members, 
to whom a fev/ have since been added. A 
previous attom|)t to organize had been de- 
feated, by the intrusion upon the meeting of 
some opponents of abolition ; since that time, 
the Society has met with no opposition. 
Owino to pVovidential hindrances, the Soci- 
elv has had but two public meetings for the 
<iiffusion of light ; and their Buccess has not 



yet been great. There are, however, many 
minds in Lowell which are deeply engaged 
in the cause, and whicii will not suffer it to 
rest till their numbers be multiplied and the 
community aroused. 

Anti-Slaverv Society of NewbuTvYPOrt 
AND Vicinity. 

The Anti-Slavery Society of Newburyport 
and Vicinity (intended to embrace Newbury- 
port and that part of Newburj immediately 
contio-uous to Newburyport,) dates its or- 
ganization April 1, 183i, with 110 members ; 
ft now numbers IGO. During the present 
month, (May,) a Female Anti-Slavery So- 
ciety has been formed, commencing with 
117, and now numbering 175 members. 

The cause of immediate emancipation, 
without any particular recent impulse, and 
althouG-h unsupported if not opposed by the 
more influential part of our community gen- 
erally, is aradaally progressing, and taking 
deeper and wider hold upon the minds of 
our citizens. The Society has met and con- 
tinues to meet with opposition, and is par- 
ticularly incommoded by the difliiculty of ob- 
tainino- suitable places for ineetings of a 
public^ character. This difficulty, however, 
is at least partially removed ; yet the doors 
of our churches are reluctantly, if at all, 
thrown open to the Society. The monthly 
Concert of prayer, for the Abolition of Sla- 
very is observed Avith considerable and ih- 
creasing interest. The friends of the cause 
look with confidence at these meetings, be- 
lievino- that they will be productive, as much 
1 as any other cause, of the diffusion of the 
principles of pure Christian liberty. In the 
' neio-hboring towns— Newbury and West 
Newbury, as yet no eff\irt has been made for 
the formation of Anti- Slavery Societies. 
There are, however, fast friends of the cause 
in both these places, who are desirous of or- 
ganized action, and M-ho would be stimula- 
ted to associate themselves, if the subject 
were once publicly brought before their fel- 
low-citizens. Societies, no doubt, could be 
easily formed, and an impetus given to the 
cause of universal liberty, in a community 
always ready for every good word and work. 



Anti-Slavery Society of Amherst. 

The Amherst College Anti-Slavery Socie- 
ty has been organized one year. 

About <^ or'"8 members convened in the 
room ot one of the students, with closed doors, 
Avhcre, after discussing the propriety of such 
proceedings, they formed themselves into a 
Society, and appointed a committee to draft 
a constitution, resolving to observe secrecy 
in relation to the subject, because of the 
great opposition then existing against the 



22 



Minutes of tin Xcw-England Anti-Slavery Convention. 



principles of Abolitionists. Shortly, howev- 
er, they determined to make Jaiown the e.x- 
i-stenco and objects of the Society ; and al- 
though opposed by the great rnajority in 
College, by the discussions in the weekly 
meetings of the Society, such an interest 
was excited as in a short tiM)e to increase 
our numbers to upwards of "lO, for some of 
whom we are indebted to Colonization ad- 
dresses delivered in the institution. For- 
merly, the principles of Anti-Slavery were 
met with uncompromising ridicule — now ev- 
ery body is an Anti-Slavery man, 'only the 
Anti-Slavery and Colonization Societies 
should run in harmonious parallel!!' All 
men of right principles see this to be impos- 1 
sible ; for the Colonization Society advo- ' 
cates gradual aholitiov, which is a contradic- 
tion in terms, while the Anti-Slavery Socie- 
ty advocates immpiiiate abolition, which is 
common sense. We have made some efforts 
towards educating our colored neio-Jibors, 
and we have had offers of aid from Coloni- 
zationists. 

T. HERVEY, ) 

A. GRAY, } Dck'safes. 

E. PRITCIIETT, ) 



Windham Co. Axti-Slavery SocrKTv. 
The Windham Co. Anti-Slavery Society 
•was formed on the first of May inst. at 
Brooklyn. Among its otBcers are some of 
the first men for respectability, influence 
and talent in the country. It's President 
(George Benson) is a veteran abolitionist, 
■who imbibed his sentiments of slavery from 
the noble philanthropists who, forty or fiftv 
years ago, were contending against the 
elave trade. Some of its officers, however, 
are new recruits in this glorious war. One 
of the Vice Presidents, in particular, though 
now a firm and zealous abolitionist, was h"it 
a little more than a year ago, strongly op- 
])osed to the abolition fiith. lie owes his 
conversion to the perusal, in the Christian 
Spectator, of an attempt of Rev. Leonard 
Bacon, of New-Haven, to reply to Mr. Gar- 
rison's ' Thoughts on Colonization.' 



RKADi.Nti Anti-Si,avf,rv Society. 
The Reading Anti-Slavery Society was 
organized in Manh, JS.{:{. The present 
number of members is nbout (iO. Address- 
es have been delivered by \V. L. (Jarrison, 
Oliver Johnson, .Amnsu VV^ilker, and Horace 
P. Wakefield. RcsoiutionH have been in- 
troduced !ii\(l defended by 1). L. Child, S. E. 
Mewall, and N. Soul hard. A lively interest 
has been taken by the members. 'I'here is 
no clecidcd o[iposition ; hut on a large mass 
of the community no imjiression can be 
made. Thpy are neither cold nor liot. A 



Female Anti-Slavery Society was organized 
about the same time: it now numbers over 
70, some of whom are mothers in Israel, and 
in the cause of Anti-Slavery. 

UXBRIDGE A.NTI-SlAVERT SoCIETY. 

The Uxbridge Anti-Slavery Society was 
organized in March of the present year. Ad- 
dresses have been delivered by Effingham 
L. Capron, Ray Potter, and Samuel J.lviay. 
The Society is composed of about 450 mem- 
bers, male and female, 50 of whom belono- 
to neighboring towns. There is no open 
opposition. 

South Reading Anti-Slavery Society. 
The Anti-Slavery Society of South Read- 
mg was formed in April, 1884— is now in a 
prosperous condition, consisting of about 90 
members, one fourth of whom are females 
We have had one public address from Mr. 
Garrison. There is no decided opposition, 
but a want of interest, which may be attrib- 
uted to the v/ant of information. 



Providence Anti-Slavery Society. 
The Providence Anti-Slavery Society 
was organized in June, 18.33. It originated 
chiefly from the efforts of only three'or four 
individuals, who became deeply interested 
in the cause by reading the Liberator, and 
other publications on the subject of slavery. 
At its formation, about a dozen of the citi- 
zens of Providence, and about half that 
number from Pawtucket, came forward and 
signed the constitution. Since that time, 
the Society has done all in its power toM-ards 
disseminating light and truth upon the sub- 
ject. Tiiey have operated upon the public 
mind by christian measures, and have en- 
deavored, through kind i)ersuasive means, 
to lead all within the sphere of their influ- 
ence to embrace the principles which they 
themselves have adopted, and to lend their 
aid in behalf of the suffering slave, and the 
overthrow of the most abominable and de- 
testable system that ever disgraced the 
world. In November, agreeably to their 
Constitution, they jield tlioir first annual 
meeting, at which resolutions were intro- 
duced and supported, and a report from Iheir 
Executive Committee read. This report 
with their t'oiistitution and a synopsis of the 
me(>ting, was immediately published and 
extensively circulated, nut onlv throntrhont 
the city, but in many parts of the state. It 
was doiil)fIess n means, through the blessing 
of (Jod, of awakening many a slumbering 
soul, and aroiisinir many a benevolent hean 
to see aright on this great subject, and lead- 
ing them to act consistently with the die- 



Report on the progress of the Anti-Slavery Cause. 



23 



tates of a pure and enlightened conscience. 
Many addresses have likewise been deliver- 
ed, and a large number of tracts put in cir- 
culation through their influence — the effects 
of which, it is hoped, will yet be extensively 
felt. Through the past winter, they have 
Jicld weekly meetings, in which resolutions, 
explanatory of their principles, have been 
discussed, and such other measures adopted 
as were thought most likely to advance the 
cause. But the Society has not yet obtained 
that place in the hearts and affections of the 
people, to which, on account of its pure and 
holy principles, it is so richly entitled. Not- 
withstanding all its labors and exertions, 
only between 50 and GO individuals have en- 
rolled themselves under its banner. But 
the few that have embraced the cause are 
true men, — sound in principle — united in 
effort — and devoted heart and soul to the 
accomplishment of the great work. And 
they are worth, too, a thousand half princi- 
pled men, who only clog the Anti-Slavery 
wheels, and throw obstacles in the plain and 
undeviating path which they are endeavor- 
ing to pursue. And why have they accom- 
plished no more r Why have they not revo- 
lutionized the city, and taken possession of 
every heart? It is because a deep-rooted 
and shameful prejudice is there — a prejudice 
which forbids even the examination of these 
principles — a prejudice which has bolted the 
doors of the houses of public worship against 
them, and controlled the voice of the press. 
It is because that out of fourteen settled 
clergymen in the city, not one has had the 
boldness and independence to come forward, 
and unite himself with them, and to preach 
the glorious truths of the gospel of Christ, 
which proclaims liberty to the captive. — 
There has been a timidity exhibited on the 
part of the clergy, which no excuse can pos- 
sibly justify. Thousands are thirsting for 
the truth, and looking up with implicit confi- 
dence to their spiritual leaders for instruc- 
tion ; and yet through fear it is withheld. 
What an awful responsibility ! 

This is a brief sketch of what they have 
done, and of the obstacles with which they 
have had to contend. Through the blessing 
of Almighty God, they intend still to labor 
in the cause, and to do all in their power 
towards the full restoration of the inaliena- 
ble rights of more than two millions of their 
colored countrymen, believing that their ef- 
forts will be finally crowned with success. 

Anti-Slavery Society of Pawtucket, 
R.I. 

Some two or three years since, a layman, 
(Mr. RuFus Buss) became very much in- 
terested in the anti-slavery cause, through 
the instrumentality of the Liberator. lie 
began to work — obtained a number of copies 



of 'Thoughts on Colonization,' and spread 
them — talked with his neighbors. Two oth- 
er laymen (Joseph Sisson and Win. Adams) 
also labored assiduously in the same man- 
ner. R. Potter was an abolitionist, but hav- 
ing hold of another horn of the beast at that 
time, thought he was not called to give par- 
ticular attention to it. lie thought, howev- 
er, all this lime, that the Colonization Society 
was a kind of an Abolition Society, until A. 
Buffiun came and lectured in his house, and 
read the Constitution of that Society, when 
he renounced it forthwith — and also in con- 
sequence of the position assumed by the 
Boston Atlas, and other kindred prints, shew- 
ing a disposition to s:ag Abolitionists. He 
therefore determined to 'rise up and work.' 
R. Potter, R. Bliss, and Wm. Adams united 
in the formation of the Providence Anti- 
Slavery Society. R. Potter prepared and 
delivered an address in liis own house at 
Pawtucket to a small audience. He was re- 
quested to repeat it ; perhaps ten times as 
many were out. About this time. Rev. J. 
Blaintookup his residence in Pawtucket; 
and in the mean time, two members of the 
Society of Friends, Mr. .Joseph Healy and 
Mr. Samuel Foster, the latter of whom had 
been engaged in the cause in the State of 
Maine, stepped forward, and put their shoul- 
der to the work, as did a number of other in- 
dividuals. As soon as the subject was fairly 
opened to Mr. Blain, he took hold like a man 
and a Christian, without feeling the popular 
pulse, or asking liberty of any man to do 
right. R. Potter repeated his address in 
Mr. Blain's house to a thronged audience — 
a Society was organized subsequently. We 
have not near so many names as we might 
have obtained — (about seventy)— we want 
only those who are a'j/ed in the wool. Mr. 
Blain has delivered two addresses. We 
scatter the seed as we have opportunity all 
around us in adjacent towns. It is marvel* 
Ions in our eyes, to see the simultaneous 
waking up to this subject all through these 
regions. The fields seem all white, ready 
for the harvest. 



Anti-Slavery Society of Plainfiel0 

AND vicinity, CoNN. 

At the commencement of last year, the 
doctrines and principles of the Abolitionists, 
and even the existence of the New-England 
Anti-Slavery Society, were almost utterly 
unknown in Plainfield, and very little better 
known in the neighboring towns. Two or 
three colored persons in the vicinity took the 
Liberator, but scarcely any body, except col- 
ored people, thought the paper worth read- 
ing : and, indeed, the whole community 
might be said to be fast asleep on the sub- 
ject of the rights and wrongs of our colored 
population, bond and free. In February of 



24 



.Minutes of iha JVeiv-Eiigland ^■hiti-Slavcry Convention. 



It33, however, an event occurrGcl. Avhich 
roused people t'roin their slumber, and pre- 
pared the way for the ditlusion of liglit on 
the subject. This was the annunciation by 
Miss Crandall, of her intention to open a 
school for colored females in Canterbury, 
within four miles of Plainfield village. There 
were a few in both towns, and others around, 
iiiio received the intelligence with heart- 
felt joy — some, perhaps with very little feel- 
ing either way ; but almost every voice which 
was raised, was to utter the disgust or hor- 
ror which such a project excited. What! 
locate a school for colored persons in the 
very heart of a pleasant village, where hith- 
erto the sable or tawny hue was known 
only as a badge of ignorance and degrada- 
tion ! The idea was preposterous. The 
violence of opposition which was at once 
roused is well known, not only through this 
country, but across the Atlantic. But this 
violence served to defeat its own object. 
The cry on every side was, that Aliss Cran- 
dall intended to teach the incendiary doc- 
trines of the Abolitionists ; and people, rous- 
ed by the din to attend to the subject, were 
naturally curious to know what these perni- 
cious doctrines were. Slavery, and its at- 
tendant and consequent evils, became the 
topic of conversation in the corners of the 
streets, in the social circle, and at the do- 
mestic fireside. Some read witli candor, 
and others even who began to read with ])re- 
judice against them, the publications of the 
fanatics, found their prejadice v/caring away ; 
and several who were at first strongly oppo- 
.sed to Miss Crandall's scheme, and to the 
Abolitionists, as well as altogether in favor 
of Colonization, are now our most zealous 
and active Abolitionists; and one at least of 
this class may be found in the delegation 
from our Society to this Convention. 

Tiic question of Colonization and Aboli- 
tion was discussed at the public cxhibilion 
of the Academy in Ajjril, and during the 
sinnmor term it continued with much spirit, 
in tlie ordinary exercises in composition and 
declamation. Tiic effect was happj'. Con- 
verts were made to the Abolition faitii, and 
a meeting was called to be holdcn on the 
third of July, 18;]4, to consider the subject, 
and if it slioubl he tliouglit advisable, to form 
an Anti-Slavery Society. The weather be- 
ing unf!ivorai)le, the moetiiiL'' was adjourned 
to August 'JOih, when the Anti-Slavery So- 
ciety of IMainfiold and V^icinity was formed, 
consisting of -I.'] members, male and female. 
Three or four towns were represented, among 
thorn tlu! far famed town of Canterbury ; but 
most of the rnemhers were citizens of Plain- 
field. Since ilH formation, tlio Society lias 
licld ineeiingH in IMainfieid, I'omfict, Abing- 
ton and l5rf)oklyn, fit which addresses were 
delivered, besides which, several members 
have visited and addressed the people in dif- 



ferent villages in Killingly, Pomfret and 
Woodstock. The meetings have, in almost 
every instance, been well attended, and some- 
times crowded, and accessions have been 
made in each of the above named towns, till 
the Society now numbers about one hundred 
members. 

At the annual meeting of the Windham 
County Colonization Society, much alarm 
was manifested at the rapid spread of 
Abolitionism, and the necessity of extraor- 
dinary etibrts to counteract tiie heresy was 
urged upon the Society. Accordingly, 
measures were taken to secure the county 
from the dangerous infection. It was voted 
that meetings be from that time held quar- 
terly, and addresses be delivered in different 
parts of the county, and agents in every town 
were appointed to take up collections, or- 
ganise auxiliaries, and in any way promote 
the cause of Colonization. Among these 
agents is the arch opposer of ]\Iiss Crandall's 
benevolent efforts for educating lier colored 
sisters, the author of the disgraceful black 
law of Connecticut, A^•DREw T. Judson. 
The first quarterly meeting was liolden in 
North Killingly, in September, when the 
Colonization orator had the satisfaction of 
addressing about 2.5 or 30 persons, and such 
was the success of this first attempt, that a 
second seems to have been thought wholly 
unnecessary, as none has since been holdcn. 

At the second meeting of the Anti-Slavery 
Society in September, it was voted to invite 
the County Colonization Society to discuss 
publicly with them, by disputants selected 
from each body, the points on which the so- 
cieties differ. This vote was communicated 
to the Secretary of the Colonization Soci- 
ety, but the invitation has never been ac- 
cepted. Some time last fall, jiowever, Mr. 
Garrison being in Brooklyn, a meeting waa 
called, at which the friends of colonization 
were invited to speak. Some discussion en- 
sued, and the impression was favorable to 
the Anti-Slavery cause. A discussion has 
also been holden in North Killingly this 
spring, in the building where last fall the 
(piarlerly colonization address was delivered, 
and the sense of the audience on the ques- 
tion being taken after the debate, nearly all 
present declared fur abolition, and no hand 
was raised for colonization, except by the 
disputants on that side. 

In conclusion it may bo remarked, that 
tliough a majority of the people in Phiin- 
iicld and its vicinity still hold themselves 
aloof from our society, and do not assent to 
our principles ; yet these principles are 
steadily gaining ground, and are mnoli less 
violently opposed than they wore a year, or 
six months ago ; and it may bo added, that 
it is believed none have cordially and impar- 
tially examined the doctrines of the Aboli- 
tionists, without btcoming coiivcrle to them. 



Report on the Domestic Slave ^i-ade. 



25 



kEPOtlT ON THE SLAVE TRADE. 

The Committee on the Domestic Slave Trade of 
Ihe United Stales, ask leave respecilully to submit 
llie following Report : 

The Federal Constitution, in the same 
clause, whicli empowers Congress to regulate 
commerce with foreign countries and the In- 
dian tribes, also authorizes it to regulate com- 
merce among the several States. The three 
subjects, foreign commerce, commerce with 
the Indian nations, and between the difterent 
States, stand on precisely the same footing. 
It was so well understood at the time of fram- 
ing the constitution, that the powar to abol- 
ish the foreign slave trade was conferred by 
the above-mentioned clause, that it was 
thought necessary by dealers in the flesh of 
foreigners, and by their patrons and instiga- 
tors, the slaveholders here, to except from the 
operation of that clause, the trade to Africa 
and other places abroad. ' Twtntij yeats ' 
"continuance of unutterable woes and unpim- 
ishable crimes, was stipulated and guaran- 
teed by us to the republican masters and tra- 
ders of slaves. And this plenar}' indulgence 
to the South to sin during that term, was one 
of the items in tliat price of principle, which 
the North paid for the Union! How com- 
pletely does this fact put the seal of hypoc- 
risy upon that boast, which has been so often 
made by masters in the slave States, and and 
oftener by their apologists in the free, that 
Virginia did petition his majesty George the 
III. to prohibit the foreign traffic, which his 
majesty in Council refused to do. Even if 
this were done with earnestness, good faith, 
and right motives, which we deem very prob- 
lematical, it was more tlian cancelled by the 
pertinacious and unprincipled demand of that 
shocking stipulation for the conlinued exis- 
tence of tlie traffic, when it was about to ex- 
pire without their aid, and wonld have expir- 
ed but for their opposition ! When we view- 
that stipulation in connection with the slave 
representation in Congress, and the power 
and influence which it exerts upon every 
ramification and measure of the Government, 
and upon every important interest of society, 
our sorrow and indignation cannot fail to be 
at the highest, and to defy the power of lan- 
guage adequately to give it utterance. By 
these provisions combined, tlie slave States 
acquired an ascendency in the Government, 
in proportion as they committed crime ; the 
right to give law to a free country, in propor- 
tion as they violated the rights of freedom ; 
4 



and thus political power, the dearest object 
of eartlily ambition, (including as it does the 
control of the purses and employments of the 
people, and the honors and emoluments of 
the Government,) was given as a bounty for 
murder, and every other crime destructive 
and brutalizing to the bodies and souls of 
men.* 

But the domestic trade, which is now car- 
ried on in these States, without an attempt 
to restrain it, does not differ essentially from 
the foreign. In its great and leading char- 
acteristics, it is the same. It is commenced 
and attended in its progress by the same 
heart-breaking separations from kindred, 
friends, and horae-^the same terror, anguish, 
and despair ; it is conducted with the same 
violence, kidnapping, and in case of re^s- 
tance or pursuit, inurder and massacre, as in 
Africa ; and it is unquestionably accompanied 
with more fraud than was ever perpetrated 
on the African coast. Your Committee feel 
it their duty, at the risk of being thought te- 
dious, to illustrate by facts the tremendous 
guilt and misery of this business, 

Hezekiah Niles, Esq. editor and publisher 
of the Baltimore Weekly Register, is situ- 
ated in the focus of the domestic slave trade. 
He has ever shown himself, though ayeeZing", 
yet a faithful apologist of slaveholders. His 
testimony, therefore, so far as it is against 
those persons, and their agents and protegees, 
(for slave traders are nothing more,) is pecu- 
liarly valuable. It is the confessions of the 
adversary. To that testimony your commit- 
tee invite your attention. 

In the Register for J829, vol. 35, p. 4, we 

find the following statement, under the liead 

of ' Kidnapping.^ 

'The Winciiester (Va.) Republican has an inter- 
esting narrative of a case of kidnapping, in which a 

*In a very late work, entitled 'Transatlantic 
Sketches, comprising visits to (he most inlcrestine 
scenes in North ami South America and the West 
Indies, with notes on negro Slavery and Canadian 
fjinigration, by Capt. J. E. Alexander, ol the Brilish 
Army, London, loSo,' we find the following passage : 

' The most remarkable circnmstance connected 
with slavery iti America is the following. A planter 
in Louisiana, of forty years standing, assured me 
ihni there are a set of misrrnants in llie cily of ISew- 
OrleniiSjWho are conncrled with the slave traders 
of Cuba, and who al certain periods proceed up (ho 
Mississippi as far as Ihe Fourche mouth, wliich they 
descenfl in large row boats, and meet off the coast 
slave ships. These ihey relieve of Iheir car- 
goes, aitd reluming to the main stream of the Mis- 
sissippi, ihey drop down ii in co\ered flat bottomed 
boats or arks, and dispose of the negroes to those 
who want them.' Vol. 2. p. 26. 



26 



Minutes of the J^ew-England Anti^Slavery Convention. 



WOrtian was rescued, though Ihe wretch wlio sold her 
to a trader in liumaiiilesli escaped. Dealing in slaves 
has become a large businkss. Esiahlislnnenis are 
made at several places in Man/land aitcl I'irginia, 
at NTJiicii they are sold like cattle. Tliese places of 
deposit are strongly built, and well supplied with iron 
thumbscrews and gags, aiKi ornamented with cow- 
skins and other whips, — oftentimes bloody. But the 
laws of these slates permit the traffic, and it is suf- 
fered. All good men obey the laws.' 

Dr. Jesse Torrcy, of Philadelphia, one of 
the earliest, and therefore moat meritorious 
laborers in the anti-slavery field, has collect- 
ed a number of cases, from which your Com- 
mittee select a few, recommending to all who 
hear this report, to read Dr, Torrey's book.* 

' A youth, having learned the subject on which 1 
was occupied, and being prompt to coniinunicato 
whatever he might meet vviili relative to it, informed 
me, on returning from school on tl>e evening of the 
ISiii of December, 1815, ihat a black woman destin- 
ed for transportation lo Georgia, with a coUle about 
to start, attempted to escape, b^- jumping out of the 
window of a garret of n tliree-slory brick tavern in 
1'" slrci'l, .ijrnut il.iy break in the nioruin'.;. and lii.U 
ill the laM she hud her l)uck and l>oth arui'i broken. 
I reiiiurked that I did not wonder ; and incjuircd 
whether it had not killed Iwr .' lo which lie replied 
that he understood she w<rs tiead. and that the (Iroi- 
gia-men had gone oil" with the others. 'J'he relaiion 
of this shocking disaster e-xcilcd considerable agita- 
tion in my mind, ami fully confirmed the sentinit;nts, 
which I had already adopted and recorded, of the 
multiplied horrors adde.d to slavery, wiren its victims 
are bought and sold, frequently for distant destina- 
tions, wall as much iixlilTerenco as four-fooled beasts. 
Supposing this to be a recent occurrence, and being 
desirous of seeing the mangled slave before she was 
buried, I proceeded with haste early on the follow- 
ing inoniiiig in search of ilie house. Calling at one 
near where ihe catasiro|)he occurred, I was inform- 
ed ihat it had been three weeks since it look place, 
and that the woman was slill living. I found the 
house, and having obtained permission of the land- 
lord to see her, 1 was conducted by a lad lo her 
room. On entering the room, I observcti her lying 
upon a bed on the lioor, and covered with a white 
W'oolleii blanket, on which were several spots of 
blood, which I perceived was red, natwilhslanding 
the 0/>ac/<(/ of her skin. Ilcr connlenance, though 
very pale from the shock siic had received, appear- 
ed coinplaccnl and sympatlieiic. liolh arms were 
broken between the elbows and wrists, and had un- 
doublodly been well set ami dressed, bul (roiu her 
restlessness, she had tiisplaced the bones so that 
Ibcy were perceptibly crooked. 1 lia*e since been 
informed by ilio mayor of the city, who is a physi- 
cian, and resides not f.ir distant from the place, thai 
he w.ii c.dleil lo visit her iiniiiedialely afler her fall ; 
and found besides her arms l>eiiig broken, that the 
low<!r jiarl of her spine was ba<lly shallered, so thai 
it was very doubtful whrlher .she would ever be ca- 

f»al>le of walking ag.iiii, if she should survive. 'I'hc 
ady of Ihe mayor said .she wasaw.ikeiied from sleep 
by ihe fall of the woman, and heard lierheav^r slrug- 
gling groans. I iiii|iiiri'd of her, wheiher she was 
asleep when she s|>raiig from the window T .She re- 
plied, ' /Vt» ; no innrr Ihin I urn iwir.' I asked her, 
what was the cause of her doing sucli a frantic act. 
Shi- answered, ' Tlinj bruim^lil vie awaij with two oj 
tmi rlii/ili-rtt, nnd winthl no! lit wi" xrf iii'i hiishnnd — 
'IVirii didn't .If II mil liHsbitnd , and I didn't want to ''o : 
— / wax so conliisrd and 'istiarted, tluU I didn't 

• ' Poriraiiure of Doincilie Slavery in ihc Unilcfl 
Stalci — l'hiladclpliia,|iubli»liu(l by Ihe .\ulhur, 11117.' 



know hardly iclial I was about— but I didn't toanl iff 
go, and 1 j'umpied out vf the tvindow ; — hit I am 
sorry now I did it — They have carried my children 
offuith them to Carolina.' 

I was informed that the slave trader, who had pur- 
chased her near Bladcnsburgb, gave her to the land- 
lord as a compensation for taking care of her. Thus 
her family was dispersed from north to south, anil 
herself nearly torn in pieces, without a shadow of 
hope of ever seeing or hearing fiom her children 
again. " He that can behold this poor woman, (as 
a respectable citizen of Washingioii afterwards re- 
marked,) and listen t« her unvarnished slory without 
a humid eye, possesses a stouter heart than I do." " *' 

' I have been informed by several persons in the 
District of Columbia, that a woman who had been 
sold in Georgetown, cut her otcn throat incficclually, 
while on her wa)' in a hack lo the same depository ;. 
and that on the road to Alexandria, she completed 
her purpose by cutting it again mortally.' 

\ ■* A statement was published in the Baltimore 
Tel-egraph a few months ago, that a female slave 
whs had been sold in Maryland, with her child, on 
the way from Bladensbuigh to Wa.-hinglon, heroic- 
ally cut the throats of l)oih her child and herself, 
wiih mortal ell'ect. 'I'liis narrative has been since 
confirmed b\' a relative of the person who sold them.' 

Mr. Henrif B.Slanlun, in a recent letter to 

the editor of the New-York Kmancipator, 

dated April 23, 1834, states the following' 

case, as among the disclosares made in the 

late remarkable discussion at Lane Seminary 

in Ohio. 

' I will now relate briefly a few fads of a difTerenl 
character, showing the unspeakable cruelly of this 
traffic in its operations upon slaves left behind. The 
following was relaled during our debate by .Andrew 
Beiilon. a member of the theological dcpariment, 
who was an agent of the S. S. Union for two or three 
years in Missouri. A master in St. Louis sold a 
slave at auriion, to a driver who was collecting men 
for the soulhern market. The negro was very in- 
lelligenl, and, on account of his ingenuity in working 
iron, was sold for an uncommonly high price — about 
7 or 800 dollars. He had a wife whom he tenderly 
loved — and from whom he was determined not lo 
pari. During the progress of ilie sale, he saw that a 
certain man was delermined to purchase him. He 
went up lo him and said, '• If you buy me. you mus-t 
buy my wife too, for ] can't go without hoi. If yon 
will only liiiy my wife, I will go wilh you willingly, 
but if you don'i, I shall never be of any use lo you.' 
He coniinucd lo repeat the same expression for some 
liuie. The man turned upon him, and <viih a sneer 
and a blow, said, ' Betrone, villain I don'i you know 
you are a slave ? ' The negro fell it keenly. lie 
retired. The sale wuiit on. He was finally struck 
oirio this man. The slave again accosled his new 
master, and besoutjiil Inin wilh great earneslni>ssand 
feeling to buy his wife, sayin-j, ihat if he uoiihl only 
do llial, he would Work lor liim hard and faillifullr, — 
would be a irood slave — ami added wilh much cin- 



* Afler Ihis pari of Ihe report was rend lo ihc Con- 
veiilion, the Kev. Amos .\. Phelps, agent of ihc 
Americin Anii-Slaverv Sociely, rem.irkeil that 
he li.id just had llie piivilege of seeing llii< woman 
who still survives; llial one of her arms and hands 
was |)erce(ilibly rrookeil, as Dr. Torrey desrribeil 
il at till! lime ; thai she had become the mother of 
three chilclrm by her husband, who was not sold ; 
ihnt the trader, who gave her away ns above, al- 
lured by the rhildrrn, had recently laid claim to 
Ihviii and iheir inulher! 



Report on the Domestic Slave Trade. 



27 



phasis, ' If yon don't, I never shall be worih any 
tliia°- lo you.' He was now repolletl more liarslily 
Jkairbeforo. The negro retiiedaliille ilislanco Irom 
his master, took out his knife, cut his throat from ear 
to ear, and fell, weltering iu his blood ! — Can slaves 
feel ? ' 

A member of this Convention,* to whom 
we were indebted on yesterday for so much 
interesting information, touching the disrep- 
utable exclusion of colored persons from re- 
publican seminaries of learning, has related 
to your Committee the following case. It 
occurred in Maryland, his native state, while 
he was yet a resident there. 

A woman, a cook belonging to a gentle- 
man on the Eastern Shore, was sold by iiim 
to Georgia. The first time he entered his 
kitchen after the tidings were received by 
her, she stabbed him with a carving knife, 
quite through the breast, and he fell dead in- 
stantaneously. Then, with the same instru- 
ment, she slashed her arm in the bend of 
the elbow, severing the flesh, cords and 
arteries, and fell and expired on her master's 
corpse. 

One of your Committeef was informed by 
a Methodist clergyman in Georgetown, in 
the District of Columbia, of the case of a 
husband, who, upon his wife being sold and 
carried to the South, pined away, and in a few 
weeks died of a broken heart. 

The case of another husband in Washing- 
ton, in the same District of Columbia, was 
narrated to the same gentleman, by a mem- 
ber of a church in that city. Upon the sale 
and departure of his wife, he became, from 
being an industrious and sober man, a drunk- 
ard, and in a short time crazy, and so remains. 

Your Committee recur with a painful sat- 
isfaction to the testimony of Mr. Stanton's 
letter. He says : — 

'The slaves at the north have a kind of instinctive 
dread of being sold into southern slavery. They 
know the toil is extreme, the climate sickly, and the 
hope of redemption desperate. But what is more 
dreadful, they fear that if they are sold, they will 
have to leave a wife, a sister, or children whom they 
love. I hope no one will smile unbelievingly when 
I say, that stavfis can love. There is no class of the 
community whose social aflections arc stronger. 
The above facts illustrate this truth. Mr. Benton, 
of whom 1 spoke above, tells me, that while prose- 
cuting his agency in Missouri, he was apj)lied to in 
more than a hundred instances by slaves, who were 
about to be sold to southern drivers, beseeching him 
iH the most earnest manner to buy them, so that they 
might not be driven away from their wives, their 
children, their brothers and their sisters. Knowing 
that his feelings were abhorrent to slavery, they ad- 
dressed him without reserve, and with an entreaty 



*Rev. William Monro of Portland. 

t Rev, John Frost of Whitesboro', N. Y. 



bordering on frenzy. Mr. B. related the following. 
He was an eye-witness. A large number of slaves 
were sitting near a sieam-boat in St. Louis, which 
was to carry them down lo New-Orleans. Seveial 
of their relatives and acquaiiilaiices came down to 
the river to take leave of them. Their demonstra- 
tions of sorrow were simple but natural. They 
wept and embraced each other again and again. 
Two or three times, they lelt their companions — 
would proceed a little distance from the boat, and 
then return to them, when the same scene would be 
repeated. This was kept up for more than an hour. 
Finally, when the boat left, they returned home, 
weeping and wringing their hands, and making every 
exhibition of the most poignant grief. Take the 
i'ollowing facts as illustrative of the deep leehng of 
slave mothers for their children. It is furnished me 
by a fellow student who has resided much in slave 
stales. I give it in his own words. " Some years 
since when travelling from Halifa.x in North Caroli- 
na, lo Warrenton in the same state, we passed a large 
drove of slaves on their way to Georgia. Before 
leaving Halifax, I heard that the drivers had pur- 
chased a number of slaves in that vicinity, and start- 
ed with them that morning, and that we should prob- 
ablv overtake them in an hour or two. Before com- 
ing'up with the gang, we saw at a distance a colored 
female, whose appearance and actions attracted my 
notice. I said to the stage-driver, (who was a col- 
ored man,) ' What is the mailer with that woman, is 
she crazy ? ' ' No massa,' said he, ' I know her, it 
is . Her master sold her two children this morn- 
ing to the soul-drivers, and she has been following 
along after them, and 1 suppose they have driven 
her back. Don't you think it would make you act 
like 3-ou was crazy, if they should take your children 
away, and you never see 'em any more ? ' By this 
time we had come up with the woman. She seemed 
quite young. As soon as she recognized the driver, 
she cried out, ' They 've gone I they 've gone ! 
The soul-drivers have got them. Master would sell 
them. 1 told him I could'nt live without my chil- 
dren. I tried to make him sell me too ; — but he beat 
me and drove me off, and I got away and followed 
after them, and the drivers whipped me back : — and 
I never shall see my children again. Oh ! what 
shall I do I ' The poor creature shrieked and tossed 
her arms about with maniac wildness— and beat her 
bosom, and literally cast dust into the air, as she 
moved towards the village. At the last glimpse I 
had of her, she was nearly a quarter of a mile from 
us, still throwing handfulls of sand around her, \vith 
the same phrenzied air." Here we have an exhibi- 
tion of a mother's feelings on parting with her chil- 
dren.' 

On the subject of the dreadful apprehen- 
sions under which slaves, and even free ne- 
groes in free states labor, in consequence of 
this odious trade. Dr. Torrey relates a re- 
markable instance. An Afriean youth, in 
the city of Philadelphia, cut his throat, al- 
most mortally, merely from the apprehension, 
as he said, of being sold. This information 
was obtained from several respectable citi- 
zens of Philadelphia, who had personal knowl- 
edge of the fact. 

Mr. Garrison relates, on the authority of a 
clergyman of Kentucky, the case of two lit- 
tle boys, which is not surpassed by the most 
affecting incident recorded in the annals of 
the African trade. The boys were tenderly 
attached to each other, and constant compan- 



28 



Minutes of the Mw-England Anli-Slavtnj Convention. 



ions from their infancy. Their owner sold 
one of tliem, but not without some anticipa- 
tion of the consequences upon the other, and 
therefore used deception to prevent and 
quiet his sorrow. When the traded lad was 
removed, the other was told that it was but 
for a little while, and tiiat he would soon see 
him again. He soon became uneasy at the 
unwonted absence of his playmate. lie was 
again assured that he would como back. This 
pacified him only to increase his alarm, when 
he found himself again balked. Again he 
■was soothed by fiiisehood in some new form, 
and with more solemn protestations, and this 
cruel mockery of the most beautiful and sa- 
cred affections, was repeated with less and 
less effect, until the lad lost all confidence in 
his perfidious comforters, and gave himself 
up to despair. He drooped a few weeks, 
pined away and expired. His heart was 
crushed. 

Your Committee have entered into these 
authentic details, notwitiistanding their pain- 
ful nature, with the liope of convincing some 
of those persons, who are in the habit of re- 
plying to all instances when presented sin- 
gly, that they are of doubtful authority, or 
that they are too rare to be reasoned upon. 
The feelings of that person are not to be 
envied, nor his principles admired, who can- 
not be affected even by a solitary instance 
of excessive and deliberate barbarity, es- 
pecially when he knows that the same tyrant 
who has committed one, may commit an hun- 
dred with equal profit and impunity ; and that 
half a million of owners are all the time at 
'iberty, and very likely to do the same. 

One of the evils of the domestic slave 
trade, most grievous in its nature, though 
not the most extensive in its effects, is the 
great temptation and facility which it aflords 
for kidnapping freemen, butli in the slave 
and free states. Some cxami)les will prove 
and illustrate this proposition. 

A member of this convention,* who for- 
merly resided in the District of Columbia, 
has communicated to your Committee a case, 
which was within his own knowledge, he 
liaving interfered to prevent the unrighteous 
result. A drunkard and spcndthrift,''namcd 
T.(uihry, having dissipntfd his money, took 
thu method to rppicnish his pockets. He 
procured a lie wflpapcr, (no difllcuil task,) con- 

" Mr Abner Forbes, teachrr of i|,p JUslon Gram- 
mar and wriiing jchool for colored youib. 



taining an advertisement of a runaway slave, 
and presented himself before a judge of tlie 
United States Court in the District, and made 
oatii that a certain Jree colored man, resid- 
ing there, was the slave intended by the ad- 
vertisement. The accused was brought be- 
fore the judge, and upon the testimony of 
this miscreant, and an accomplice, he was 
adjudged a slave, and was carried south, in 
spite of the zealous exertions of our friend. 
It is the opinion of the same gentleman that 
by a conspiracy of one or two needy and 
profligate men with a domestic slave trader, ) 
any free colored man in any state may be, 
and a very considerable number annually is 
kidnapped according to law ! The liberty of 
colored free men has not been sufficiently 
guarded by the laws of the United States, 
nor of any of the separate states ; for in none 
of the free states, on tlie question of 
liberty or slavery, is the alleged slave al- 
lowed a trial by jury, any more than he is on 
the question of life or death in the slave 
states! New-York has lately provided for 
such trial where a man is claimed as a slave, 
but it seems to be considered very doubtful 
if the judicial tribunals of that state will 
sustain the enactment. If they should not, 
it will be high time, that Congress should re- 
vise the act for restoring men to slavery, who 
have escaped from it, so that it may not be 
used as an instrument for enslaving those 
who are by birth or manumission free. Sup- 
pose such a statute as the one abovemen- 
tioned had been applied to the pilgrims, who 
fled from ecclesiastical tyranny, or to their 
descendants; for no length of time, no num- 
ber of generations, can by the slave code 
render the posterity of slaves free! Or, sup- 
pose the British Parliament should pass an 
act to reduce these states to colonial depend- 
once once more. We shouhl fight, imme- 
diately, and justly. And what does this 
sliow ? It shows that the reclaiming of fui'i- 
tive and seli-cmancipatcd slaves, is an aflair 
of 7nere power, and 710/ of n'ir/il ; and is sub- 
mitted to on the same principle tliat wc sur- 
render our purse to a higiiwnyman, who 
points a pistol at our brea.st. 

The following is from tiie testimony of the 
Rev. George Bourne, in a recent publica- 
tion * abounding with useful and afllicting 
details. 

*' Hounip'srirliironfSkivrrvin (lif I'nilrd Slnli"; 
Mi<l<1lclown, Ton. 1;. Iliini. IKU.' 



Report on the Domestic Slave Trade. 



20 



'Nothing is more common than for two of these 
while partners in iiiicinily, Satan-like, to start upon 
the prowl, and if they tind a freeman on the road, to 
demand his ceriificate, tear it in pieces or secrete it, 
lie him to one of their horses, hurry to some jail, 
while one whips the citizen along- as fast as tlieir 
horses can travel. There, by an luulerstandins with 
the jailer, who sharks in the spoil, all possibility of 
intercourse with his friends is cut off. At the ear- 
liest possible period, the captive is sold to pay the 
felonious claims of the law, bought through jugglery 
by this trio of man-stealcrs ; and then transferred to 
some of their accomplices in iniquity, who fill every 

part of the Southern Stales with fraud, rapine and presumed to be a 

j himself free ! 
Bourne mentions several 



lie meets ! Such are some of the conse- 
quences of substitutintT a bit of parchment 
for that groat law of God, that all men are 
free — that universal law, which the Roman 
code in its worst state fully acknowledged, 
and applied to the condition, of slavery in 
that empire ; so that there, in the worst of 
times, every man was presumed to he free, 
until the contrary were proved. Here he is 
lave, unless he proves 
"blood 

Mr. Bourne mentions several cases, 
where the most subtle frauds, and the most 
revolting cruelties, are by turns displayed. 
The Committee recommend the whole book 
to the attention of anti-slavery friends. The 
author probes with a firm hand, this fever- 
sore of the body politic. 

Mr. Munro and Mr. Forbes, whose testi- 
mony has before been referred to, concur in 
declaring that the practice of whites to searcli 
any colored persons, bond or free, male or 
female, whom they meet in the slave states, 
is universal ; and indeed any one who reflects 
upon the laws of those states, must be aware 
that this right of search would necessarily re- 
sult from those laws. This is very important in 

its bearing on tlie kidnapping branch of the , ...,..- , - 

. ^^ , -^ ' '^ ° ., ,. Ucd her out, fastened a noose round her neck to pro- 

Domestic Trade. For generally speaking, >^^^^^ ^^^^ C^^j^^ screaming, and attempted to blindfold 
a free colored man deprived of his free pa- 1 her, which she resisted with such violence that she 



Your Committee would now recur to the 
work of Dr. Torrcy. The evidence M'hich 
that gentleman has recorded is the more val- 
uable, as it has been before the whole coun- 
try for sixteen years, and no contradiction, 
or even qualification of his statements has 
been attempted. This is the best proof that 
they will admit of none — He says : 

'The others whom I found in the same garret, 
(meaning where the woman with broken back and 
hmbs wal lying,) and at the same time,were a young 
black widow woman, and an infant at the breast, 
both of whom were born free. Her husband had 
died a few days previous to her seizure, and she was 
in a state of pregnancy at the time. She stated that 
the man in wh»se house she resided, together with 
his brother, and three other persons, (two of whom, 
she said, then stood indicted for having seized and 
carried her off at a former lime.) came into the room 
a kitchen) where she was in bed, seized and drag- 



pers, can entertain very little hope of vindi- 
cating his freedom. Your Committee are 
fully satisfied that where the liberty of a 
slave is in question, it is extremely difficult 
to obtain the testimony of whites to facts in 
his favor, however clear or notorious 
they may be. Mr. Forbes says, that he 
has known white witnesses, whose love of 
truth, justice and humanity, iiTipelled them 
to come forward, and enabled them to defy 
persecution, to give their evidence amidst the 
iiisses of the whole court-house. When it 
is considered that the sheriffs and consta- 
bles or other persons serving subpoenas for 
witnesses, must all be white— that they must 
be p«u/— that the negro has very little to pay 
with, and can never, on the score of expense, 
compete with his master— that even if he 
should be able to bring his witnesses into 
court, he can seldom from these causes have 
legal counsel — and that at last he is to be 
judged by slaveholders — it must be seen 
J and acknowledged, that any free colored 
man, without his certificate in his pocket, is 
a sZaue— not of one man, but of every man 



1/ 



prevented them from succeeding. She said, while 
one of them was endeavoring to fix the bandage 
over her eyes, that she seized his cheek with her 
teeth, and tore a piece of it entirely oft". She said 
one of them struck her head several times with a 
stick of wood, from the wounds of which she was al- 
most entirely covered with blood. She showed me 
a large scar upon her forehead, occasioned by one 
of the blows which a gentleman, who saw her the 
day previous to the seizure, has since informed me 
was not there before. She said, while she was strug- 
gling against them, and screaming, the man in 

whose house she lived bawled out. ' Choak the 

; don't let her halloo; she 'II scare my wife ! ' 

Havini? conquered her by superior force, she said 
they placed her wiUi the child in the chaise, and re- 
fusing to dress herself, three of them, leaving the 
two who belonged to the house, carried her off in 
the con<lilion that she was dragged from the bed. to 
a certain la\ern in Maryland, and sold them both to 
ihe man-dealer, who brought them to the city of 
Washington. She stated that one of her captors 
drove tlie carriage and held ihe rope which was fixed 
to her neck, and that one rode each side, on horse- 
back ; that while one of them was negociating a bar- 
gain with her purchaser, he asked her who her mas- 
ter was, and replying that she had none, her seller 
beckoned to him'lo go into another room, where the 
business was adjusted without troubling her with 
any further inquiries. She stated that her i)urchasep 
confessed, while on the wav to Annapolis, that he 
believed she might have had some claim to freedom 
and intimated that he would have taken her back, if 
the man of whom he bought her had not run away; 
but requested her. notwithstanding, to say nothing 
to any bodv about her being free, which she refused 



30 



Maudes of the JVLW-Englaiid Anti-Slavery Convention. 



to comply Willi, yhe affirmed that lie oflcrcd her 
lor sale to several persons, who refused to piircliaxc 
lier, on account of her asserting that slie u-ax frcf. 
She slated that her purchaser had lel't her in \\'a>li- 
ington for a few weeks, and gone to the Eastern 
Shore, in search of more hlack people, in order to 
make up a drove tor Georgia.' 

The same writer states, that a free mulat- 
to who had been sold near Philadelphia, by 
his employer, and brought to Wasliington, 
was most unmercifully beaten on tlie road 
with a club for telinvr that he was free ! 

' A mulatto youth had been purchased in the city 
of Wnshinglon, and kept in it in irons several weeks 
by a person who confessed his regret, that he had 
not removed liini before the suit, for the recovery of 
his freedom, had commenced; and that, if he had 
known it sooner, he would have taken him on to 

, (the place of his residence,) even if he had 

been salislied of his being free. One Slave-Trader, 
to whom he had been oflered, was however so con- 
scientious, thai he refused to purchase him or the lad, 
who was with him (l)cforc mentioned) being confi- 
dent that they were illegally enslaved.' 

'I have been assured by a gentleman of the high- 
est res|)eblabiliiy, that a former representative to 
Congress, from one of the southern states, acknowl- 
edged to him that ho held a mulatto man as a slave, 
having purchased him in company with slaves, who 
affirmed that he was free born, and had been kid- 
napped from one of the New-England states, who 
was well educated, and who, he had no doubt, was 
born as free a man as himself or my informant. Upon 
being asked, how he could bear 'then to retain him, 
he replied that the customs of his part of the country 
were such that these things are not minded much.' 

'Ml. Cooper, one of the rcprescnlaiives to con- 
gress from Delaware, assured me that he had often 
been afraid to send one of his servants out of his 
house in the evening, from the danger of their being 
seized by kidnappers,' 



It appears by the following passage, that 
Dr. Torrcy was powerfully struck by that 
resemblance, or rather identity of the Amer- 
ican Slave Trade and the African Slave 
Trade, which your Committee iiave asserted. 
He says — 

' Thomas Clarkson stales, in his History of the 
Abolition of the Slave 'J'rade, that the arrival of 
slave ships, on the coasts of Africa, was the uniform 
signal for the immediate commencement of wars for 
the aitaiumenl of prisoneis, for sale and exportation 
lo America and the West Indies. In Maryland and 
Delaware, the same drama is now performed in niin- 
iauire. The arrival of the INlan-'J'raUickcrs, laden 
with cash, at iheir res|>ectivCir/a/(o;is, near the coasts 
of a (jrcal American water, called justly, by Mr. 
llandolpli, ' (/ MidiliTinn.an sra,' or at their several 
inland jMists, near tin; dividing line of .Maryland and 
Delaware, (at some of which they have grated pris- 
ons for the purpose) is the well known signal for (he 
professid Air/Hu;»pe;A, like beasts of prov, to com- 
mence their nightly invasions ujion the //«"<■((/ lloclcx ; 
oxicnding Iheir ravages, (generally allended with 
bloodshed, and someliiiies luurdrr,) and spieailing 
tenor and conslern.ition amongst l>(>th freemen and 
slaves throughout ihe sandij rr^ion.i, from the west- 
ern lo the enslern shores. Tlicse ' Iwo-leixi^fdfeath- 
trlfis animah,' or human Idood-hoimdx, when over- 
taken, which is rare, by Ihe messen^r,.rs of (he law, 
are penorally found .-irnieil with insliuinenK of death, 
sometimes with pistols with latent sorine; dajrirers 
ailachcd 10 Ihcm,' ^ ^° 



On the subject of the difficulty of kid- 
napped persons holding any communica- 
tion, by which assistance could be procured, 
Mr. Munro states the following facts, as 
having come under his own observa- 
tion. 

In the droves, which are marched inland 
from Maryland south, and from the prisons, 
depots and public houses to the vessels, none 
is allowed to address a bystander of any 
color or condition. Now and then, a negro 
raises his head and calls out, 'Good bye,' to 
his friends and acquaintance. This is all. 
It is exceedingly rare that one hears more. 
I was once present, when a woman cried that 
she was /ree, and had been kidnapped. A 
gentleman of respectable character attempt- • 
ed to inquire into tlio particulars of her case, 
but JFoolfolk, the ferocious merchant of souls 
rode up to hirn on the side walk, and drew 
pistols upon him. Of this action, no no- 
tice was taken by the police or public author- 
ities of any kind. Woolfolk's servants fol- 
low him, armed with pistols and daggers. 

It may be observed in general, that the 
kidnapping of freemen is common all over 
this country, and prevails to an e.xtent of 
which few are aware. 

Mr. Jude Hall, a colored man of New 
Hampshire, a valiant soldier during the whole 
of our revolutionary war, and at the time of 
his death a pensioner of the United States, ' 
lost three sons by kidnapping from New'Jfl 
England vessels. One of them, after ten 
years bondage, escaped to England, and 
wrote from there a few years ago, an account 
of his being sold by his captain, of his con- / 
tinuance in slavery during the above period, ' 
of his escape thence, and of his success and 
prosperity after arriving in England, M'here 
he had become the captain of a coasting ves- 
sel, and was happily married. This news 
was received after the death of the father. 
TJio other two, if living, are still in slavery, 
— and it is not known where.* 

A colored seaman of Boston, was lately 
kidnapped at New Orleans, and cominitted 
to the calaboose, preparatory to being sold 
and sent into the interior. He supposes that 
his captain, a Scotchman named IhUklcy, was 
privy to the outrage. Tiiero ho remained in 
the most filthy and infested of prisons, and 
believes that he should have been in slavery 



• Allidavii of Uobcrt Iloberts of Uoston. 1/ 



Report on the Domcsiic Slave Trade. 



31 



at this time, if he had not been able to speak 
French. Availing himself of tiiis advantage, 
he conveyed a message through a Creole 
French soldier who was on guard, to two 
friends in the city, who obtained his release. 
This sailor saw in the prison nine colored 
men, whom he knew to be free, having 
known several of them as stewards on board 
of northern vessels. Two of them belong- 
ed to Boston, one to Portland, and three to 
New'York. After twenty days, they were 
to be sold. The witness adds the following 
remarkable declaration, which it is to be 
hoped may operate, if not as a help to reform 
this horrid abuse, at least as a caution to all 
colored seamen, both against their own offi- 
cers, and the caitiffs who infest the shores of 
the Mississippi. 

' Thercisa coniinvalstrram of free cnlorcd prr- 
Bons from Boston, l\ew-york, Philadelphia, and 
other seaports of the United States, passing through 
the CALABOOSE into slavery in the country.' 

A member of this Convention * states, 
among five cases of kidnapping within his 
own knowledge, that of his brother. We 
quote his own words. 

' About eighteen vears ago, Robert II. Barbadoes 
was kidmiapped in TVew-Orleans, imprisoned, hand- 
culiled and chained, for about five nioutlis or longer, 
and deprived every way of communicating his situa- 
tion to his parents. His protection was taken from 
him, and torn up. He was often severely fioggcd to 
be made submissive, and deny that he was free born. 
He was unluckily caught with a letter wrote with a 
stick, and with the blood drawn from his own veins, 
for the purpose of communicating to his father his 
situation; but this project failed, lor the letter was 
torn away from him and destroyed, and he very se- 
verely flogged. He then lost most every hope ; but 
at length the above Peter Smilht was kidnapped 
again in this garden of paradise of freedom, and 
being lodged in the same cell.with him, he communi- 
cated to Smith the particulars of his sufferings. At 
the examination of Smith, he was found to have free 
papers, signed by the Governor; in conseiiuence of 
which, he was set at liberty. He then wrote to Bar- 
badoes' parents, and likewise arrived in Boston as 
soon as the letter. Free papers were immediately 
obtained, and signed by his father and Mrs. Mary 

Turcl, Mr.- Giles, and Mr. Thomas Clark, 

town clerk ; and by the (governor of this slate de- 
manding him without delay, he was returned to his 
native town, Boston, where all these other j)ersons 
belonged.' 

The following is from Mr. Stanton's letter. 

' A member of this institution, recently visiting 
among the colored people of Cincinnati, entered a 
houseWhere was a mother and her little son. The 
wretched appearance of the house and the extreme 
poverty of its inmates induced the visitor to suppose 
that the husband of the woman must be a drunkard. 
He Inquired of the boy, who was two or three years 
old, where his father was ? He replied, ' Papa stole." 

•* James G. Barbadocs of Boston, 
t One of the four persons previously menlioncd by 
Mr. Barbadoes. 



The visitor seemed not to understand, and turning 
to the mother, said, ' What does he mean ? ' She 
then related the following circumstances. About 
two years ago, one evening, her husband was silting 
in the house, when two men came in, and professing 
great friendship, jjcrsuaded him under some pretence 
to go on board a steamboat, then lying at the dock, 
and bound down the river. Alter some hesitation he 
consented to go. She heard nothing from him for 
more than a year, but sup[)0sed he had been kidnap- 
ped. Last spring, Dr. , a ph3'sician of Cincin- 
nati, being at Natchez, Miss, saw this negro in a 
drove of slaves, and recognized hini. He ascertain- 
ed, from conversation with hiin, that he had been 
driven about from place to place since he was de- 
coyed from home by the slave-drivers, — had chang- 
ed masters Ivvo oi three limes, and had once been 
lodged in jail for safe keeping, where he remained 
some time. When Dr. returned to Cincinna- 
ti, he saw the wife of the negro, and engaged to lake 
the necessary steps for his liberation. But soon af- 
terwards this gentleman fell a victim to the cholera, 
which was then prevailing in Cincinnati. No efforts 
have since been made to recover this negro. No ti- 
dings have been heaid from him since the return of 

Dr. . He is probably now laboring on sonic 

sugar or cotton plantatio]! in I.uiii.si.ui.i. wlihoul the 
hope ol escaping I'rom sla\ery. alihoiii;h Ik is a free 
born citizen of Piiiladel|)hia.' 

Mr. Stroud, author of the Sketch of Soutli- 
ern Slave Laws, states that more than thirty 
free persons of color wero carried off from 
Philadelphia in two years. Five with great 
difficulty and expense had been released. 
The rest were still in bondage. 

Torrey say.s, that in many cases whole fam- 
ilies have been attacked by night, knocked 
down, gagged, and dragged away, leaving no 
traces behind, except trails of their blood. 
He further says, on the authority of an 'in- 
genuous slave-trader,' which reminds us of 
the title of a comedy, (' Honest Thieves,') 
that 'several thousand free citizens of these 
United States, are held in hopeless captivity 
in this land of freedom.' 
The star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave 
O'er ihe land of the free, and the home of iIig— s/«t'e. 

The laws of the slave states concur with 
private depravity, to keep up this abomina- 
ble trade. Their prisons, as well as that, 
which we all pay to supj)ort in the District 
of Columbia, stand ever ready to fly open for 
the accommodation of soul-aellcrs and steal- 
ers, and to close upon their captives. The 
statutes of the old, slave-breeding and slave- 
trading southern states provide every means 
for rendering man-merchandizing easy and 
lucrative. Thus they antliorizc the county 
courts to issue under seal, certificates of the 
good character of any slave about to be sold 
to Georgia, Louisiana, fcc. which greatly en- 
hances his merchantable value, and is analo- 
gous to an invoice or bill of liealth in a law- 



3-1 



Minutes of the JVm- England .inti-Slavery Convention. 



fill commerce. The inhuman, and worse 
than heathen principles, universal in the .slave 
stales, that any colored man shall be taken 
and deemed to be a slave, and shall be in- 
competent as a witness, whether slave or not, 
nugmcnt prodig-iously the lacility of enslav- 
ing free men. Thus any colored man may 
be imprisoned by any white, and if no white 
witness appear, he must be sold to pay the 
advertising-, jail fees, and for apprehending 
him. The laws in some states are so con- 
scientious cs to direct that in such cases he 
shall be sold only for a term of years to pay 
the above expenses ; but all accounts of th- 
practice agree tliat tJjis restriction is gener- 
ally nugatory. Once sold, tJjey are taken to 
Georgia and other states more south, and 
disposed of as entire slaves, to those who 
know not the contrary, or disregard it if they 
do ; and after this they must inevitably re- 
main slaves for the residue of their lives. 
The awful motto was not more applicable to 
Dante's hell,— 

' O ye, who enter here, abandon hope .' ' 
than to the entrance of Georgia or the Mis- 
sissippi by these unhappy men. 

It is true that ' free papers,' as they arc 
called, are some protection so long as tliey 
are retained, but what are they wortli when 
every white ruffian has the right ok skarcii, 
and in nine cases out often, (we use the lan- 
guage of Mr. Monro), finds those papers, 
Jiowever carefully concealed, and tears them 
in pieces ? 

Anotlicr law, which if not universal is very 
general in slave states, is that a slave, or any 
person for him, who shall sue for the free- 
dom of the slave, in case the action shall 
fail, shall pay to the master double costs, 
••Mid no slave can prosecute such action 
" ithout lirst giving security Jbr costs. 

With such multiplied impediments in their 
way, let the Convention judge how many 
free men held in bondage, will be likely to 
vindicaln their frer.lom. The ncgroee nmst 
liavc a Hhitr. man in Fomo ^fatrs to prose- 
cutn forthrm; in nil, fhry must Imvn white 
sureties and witncsseB, either of which it 
renders a white man unpoi.ujarwith his caslc 
to be. Then lie has counwel to fee, and 
clerk'd and jury fees to ndvancc. All these 
things recjuirc money of men, whose very 
condition it is to have no ri-ht to acquire 
properly, and to be incapable uf posscseinT 



a farthing .» Supposing him by some mird* 

cle to have surmounted these, still judge 

and jury are slaveholders. 

Your Committee forbear at this time to 

multiply examples, not because they are few, 

but because they are so many. 
It may be reckoned as among- the great 

evils of the Domestic Slave-trade, that to 

an owner, who abuses his power in such a 
manner as not to destroy life, but yet to ren- 
der the victims disagreeable to his sight, dis- 
quieting to his conscience, or dangerous to 
Ins reputation ; or their resentment, or the 
sympathy of their companions formidable to 
him-— it affords the means of getting rid 
of them as effectually as if they were biTried. 
'Dead men tell no tales,' is likewise true of 
traded men. 

From a manuscript for which your Com- 
mittee are indebted to a member of this Con- 
vention,* we extract the following case. 

A gentleman of Baltimore was the father 
of a mulatto girl, by his slave. He deter- 
mined to fulfil his natural duty towards her, 
and gave her an excellent education, and 
she grew up a very accomplished young 
lady. When she was arrived almost at 
womanhood, her father died. By a codicil to 
his will he emancipated her, and bequeathed 
her a handsome property. Her white broth- 
er, who was the executor, destroyed the cod- 
icil of the will and the modesty of the maiden, 
and when she was about to become a moth- 
er, sold her for an enhanced price to Louisi- 
ana. 

Many cases have been stated of slaves, 
whose masters had voluntarily contracted 
with them to give them cmuncipation, 
when they should have earned a certain 
sum, (the full value of their persons.) over 
and above their usual tasks; and after they 
had earned and paid it over, have sold 
and removed them to a safe distance. This 
cruel deceit seems to be resorted to for gain 
or revenge. 

The nffecting r.isp nf a barber, who nt- 
trmptrd to rut his throat on bring informed 
that he was sold, when he had just paid over 
to his master the last of the purchase-money 
for his own body, has been generally pub- 
lished within u few months in the newspa- 
pers. It may be considered as some proof of 



I ' llcv. George Bourne. 



tteporl on the Domestic Slave Trade. 



33 



t-hc poWer of that story that it sliould have 
found its way into those veliiclcs of informa- 
tion, wliich systematically suppress the truth, 
touching the condition and fate of our en- 
slaved countrymen!! 

The following- ivS from a recent publica- 
tion.* 

' A master had repeatedly promised to manumit 
a slave who was an excellent blacksiiiitli, but he had 
as often violated his promise. The slave had work- 
ed earlier, later and harder, upon the expectation of 
becoming so much the sooner a tnan. At length, 
however, his heart giew sick. Disappointment, 
Sharper than a serpent's tooth, relaxed the sinews ol 
his arm, and poisoned his coarse and scanty fare. 
The master, to revive his spirits and restore his vig- 
or, finally promised with unwonted solcninitj, that 
if he would earn by extra labor a certain sum of 
money, amounting to several hundred dollars, he 
should be free, the slave fell to work once more 
with redoubled energy. He toiled long and hard, 
and at last the blessed day dawned, on which, ac- 
cording to the stipulation,"he was to be enfranchised. 
But his treacherous and brutal master had sold him 
to a slave trader, to be carried to New-Orleans I and 
on that day he was destined to receive — nol^ his 
promised freedom, but a new suit of chains. 'J'he 
heart-stricken man told his tale to the trader ; how 
he had been promised, how he iiarl toiled, how 
cherished artd deferred hopes would be blasted 
forever. He entreated him in the most touching lan- 
guage, to renounce the sacrilegious bargain. But 
' there is no flesh in the heart ' of a slave trader. 
Seeing that his prayers and tears were vain, the 
slave became desperate. He told the dealer that il 
he did take him, one or the other of them must die ; 
and that he then gave him fair warning. The trader 
was highly diverted, and said ' he liked such a spir- 
ited fellow.' They went on board a vessel, and, 
during a serene evening in that delicious climate, the 
trader reposed himself upon the deck. In the dead 
of the night, the slave contrived to rid himself of his 
hand-cuffs, and groped until he grasped an axe, and, 
!hus armed, stood over thesleeping man. He waked 
hiiii and told his purpose. ' Then God have mercy 
un me,' said the slave trader. ' God will not have 
jiicrcy on you, neither will J,' said the slave, and 
beat out his brains.' 
There cannot be a reasonable doubt that 
' the ./linerica)i ' Middle Passage ' abotinds in 
liorrors very similar to those of the African. 
The victims collected for the Southern mar- 
ket, arc consigned to prisons attached to pri- 
vate estabiishiTients, or to county jails, or to 
the jail in the District of Columbia. There 
they suffer from hunger, heat and cold, in 
chains and in cells, which all Avitnesses de- 
scribe as filthy and loathsome in the extreme 
and even in this situation the traders still 
find or make occasions for using the 'bloody 
lash.' 

If from these receptacles they are trans- 
ported by sea, they are crowded between 

* ' Speech of David T.. Child, Esq. at die first an- 
niversary of the N. K. A. S. S. published by the l?os- 
lon Young Men's Anti-Slavery Society for the Dif- 
f«sion of truth, 18.>t.' 
5 



decks and into the liokl in just such num- 
bers as the captain pleases, and their fare i^ 
such as pleases him or the owner of then). 
Of course, it is not likely to be expensive. 
The ship-room to be reserved for each slave 
coming fi'om Africa ^vas prescribed by the 
British Parliament long before they abolish- 
ed the trade. Our Congress has found it 
necessary to prescribe the ship-room which 
captains shall reserve fo7- passengers on for- 
eign voyages to and from the United States. 
If these enactments were necessary, is it not 
probable that the unlimited liberty of crowd- 
ing unreasonably and uncomforti'.bly our 
coasting slavers, is abused in nearly every 
voyage ? Will not the captains make money 
by abusing it? Will not traders save by it? 
The ordinary cargo appears to be from one 
hundred and fifty to two hundred slaves. It 
scorns to your Committee that there must be 
suffering, excessive suffering from straight- 
ness of room ; and we have a painful suspi- 
cion that it is much greater from this cause, 
and also from badness and scantiness of pro- 
vision and harsh treatment on board, than is 
cither known to us, or generally suspected. 
No one has yet told the secrets of an Jlme- 
rican coasting slaver. 

The following from the letter of Mr. Stan- 
ton, may serve to give an inkling of what 
may be. 

' A trader was recently taking down nine slaves 
in a flat boat. When near Natchez, his boat sprung 
aleak. He was compelled to abandon her. He put 
his slaves into a small canoe. Being irianaclod and 
fettered, they were unable to manage the canoe. It 
iipsel — tljcy vvere plunged into the river — and sunk, 
being carried down by the weight of their chains. 
The water was deep and the current rapid. 'J'iiey 
were seen no more. JMy informant conversed with 
a man who accompanied a cargo of skives from 
some port in VirginiK, round, by sea, to N Orleans. 
He said the owncr.s and sailors treated tiiem most 
unmercifully — beating iIkmii, and in some instances 
literally knocking them down upon the deck. They 
were locked up in the hold every night. Once on 
the passage, in consequence of alarm, the}' kept 
them in the liold the whole period of four days an<l 
nights, and none were brought on deck during that 
time l«it a few females — and they, for purposes 
w hich I will not name. Tilr. Editor, do the Imrrors 
of the middle passage belong cxclusivel}' to a by- 
gone ;igc ? ' 

' There is one feature of this nefarious traflic which 
no motives of delicacy can induce me to omit men- 
tioning. Shall we conceal the truth, I)ecaiise it.s 
revelation will shock the finersensibiliiirs of the soul, 
when bv such concealment we shut out all liope of 
rcmcdving an evil, which dooms to a dishonored 
life, and to a hopeless deaUi, thousands of the fo- 
niales of our country ? Is this wise? [s it prudent 7 
Is it rin;h( ? I allude to the fact, that large numbers 
of female mulaltoes arc annually bought up, and cnr- 
ried down to our southern cities, and sold at enor- 



34 



Minutes of the MwEngland Anti-Slavery Convention. 



inoiis prices, for purposes of private proslilulion. 
This is a fact of ujiivorsal notoriety in the soiuii- 
westerii states. It is known to every soul-driver in 
llie nation. And is it so t>ad timt Clirislians may 
not know it, and knowinsj it, apply ihe remedy ? Jn 
liie consunimnlion of this n.i'meiess abomination, 
threats and the lash come in, wlicrc kind promises 
and money fail. And will not the mothers of Amc- 
lica feel in view of these facts ? ' 

' Those who are transported down the Mississippi 
river, receive treatment necessarily difl'erenl, but in 
tha agnjregate no less cruel. 'J'liey are slowed away 
on thedecks of steamboats (our boats are construct- 
ed dilTfrently from 3'ours,) males and females, old 
and younfj, usually chained, subject to llie jeers and 
taunts of the passengers and navigators, and often, 
by bribes, or threats, or the lash, made subject to 
abominations not to be named. On the same deck, 
you may see horses and human beings, tenants of 
the same apartn)pnts, and going to supply the same 
mirket. 'J'he o'tf/nA beasts, being loss managca!)le. 
are allowed the first place, while the human are for- 
ced into spare corners and vacant places. My in- 
formant saw one trader, who was taking down to 
New-Orleans one hundred horses, severalsher)), and 
between fifty and sixty slaves. The sheep and the 
slaves occupied the same deck. Many interesting 
and intelligent females vve.'-e of the nuiii'ier. And if 
1 were satisfied that the columns of a newspaper was 
the proper place to publisli it, I could tell facts con- 
cerning the hiulal treatment exercised towards these 
defenceless fenvdes while on the downward passage, 
which ought to kindle up the hot indignation of every 
mother, and daughter, and sister in the land.' 

Let it be reixi'mibered that this testimony 
comes from the very scene of these atrocities, 
anrl from the mouths of the sons of slave- 
Iiolders. 

There is much te.stimony wliich mi.'rht be 
heaped tip on the subject of the criieltios to 
the droves, whicli move to market by land. 
(n the works of Torrey, Rankin,* Bourne, 
Mrs. Child, the Liberator, and the New York 
Anti-Slavery Reporter, facts may be found 
f iifiicient to oppress the soul of any one,whom 
custonj has not rendered insensible to human 
misery and the blackest crimes. On this 
subject Mr. Stanton says — 

' The slaves are taken down in companies, vary- 
ing in number Ironi 20^0.500. Men of capital are 
engaged in the tralfic. (Jo into the principal towns 
on the .Mis>.issippi rivi;r, and you will lind these ne- 
pro traders in tiio l>ar-ro(uns, boaslingof their adroit- 
ness Ml driving human liesh, and describing the pro- 
cess by which diey can ' tame down ' the siiirit of a 
' rc/iactonj' negro. Remember, Uv ' i<fraclon,' 
Ihey mean to itesignate that spirit which some hlgh- 
soulc.l negro inamlests. when lie liilly recognizes the 
fact, ll;at God's image is slanmetl upon him. Tiiere ' 
are many siirh nrgroes in slavery. 'I'ln-ir bodies 
may (ami undi-r the inlliclii.n of accumulated wrony. 
hul their souls cannot be crushed. After visitin"^ tiie 
bar-room, go into liie out.ikirls „f the town, and tliere 
you Will find the slave? brl.nij^ing to the drove. 
crowde<i into dilapidateil liuis, — sume, njvelling— 
olhors apparently stupid— but others vveepin-r over 
ties liroken mill hopes (Ic.-troycil, with an ngcuiy in- 
tense, and to a free man, inconceivable. lyhiny rc- 

'' '-fe'"'^ "" •'^'*'*'''''>'- '•>■ ''^^'v- John Hankiii.' p. 



' spectabic planters in Louisiana have Iheinselvc* 
gone into Maryland and Virginia, and purchased 
llieir slaves. '1 hey think it more profitable to do so. 
Brother Robinson cqjiversed with one or two ot then* 
when on their return. This sliows that liigiily re- 
spectable men engage in this trade. But those who 
make it their regular em|iloymenl, and thus receive 
the awfully significant tide of 'soul drivers,' arc 
usually brutal, ignorant, debauched men. And it is 
TOcA men, who exercise despotic control over Ihoa- 
sands of down-trodden, and defenceless men and 
women.' 

' The slaves which pass down to the southern mar- 
ket on the Mississippi river and through the interior, 
are mostly purchased in Kentucky and Virginia. 
Some are bought in Tennessee. In the emigration 
they suH'er great hardships. 'J'hose who are driven 
down by laud, travel from two hundred to a thousand 
mdes on foot, through Kentucky, Tennessee, aiitl 
Mississippi. They sometimes carry lieavy chains 
the whole distance. These chains are very massive- 
I hey extend from (he liands to the leet, bei'ng laslen- 
ed to the wrists and ancles by an iron rii.g round 
each. When chained, every slave carries iwo chains 
— i. e. one from each hand to each foot. A wagon, 
in winch rides 'the driver,' carrying coarse provis- 
ions, and a few lent coverings, generally accompa- 
nies the drove. Men, women and children, some of 
the latter very young, walk near the wagon ; and if, 
through fatigue or sickness they falter, the applica- 
tion of the whip reminds them that they are slaves. — 
Our informant, speaking of some droves which he 
met, says, ' their weariness was extreme, and (heir 
dejected, despairing and woe-begone countenances 
I shall never forget.' They encamp out ni-^his. 
I heir bed consists of a small blanket. Even this is 
frefiuenlly denied them. A rude teiii covers them, 
scarcely sufficient lo keep ofT the dew or frost, much 
less the rain, 'i'bey frequently remain in this situa- 
tion several weeks, in the neighborhood of some 
slave-trading village. The slaves are subject, while 
on their journeys, to severe sickness. On such oc- 
casions tiie drivers manifest much anxiety lest they 
shoubi \qsc— their property ! But even sickness does 
not prevent tlu-m from hurrying their victims on to 
market. Sick, faint, or weary, the slave knows no 
rest. In the Choctaw nation, my informant met a 
large company of these miserable beings, following 
a wagon at some distance. From their aopearance, 
being mostly females am! children, and hence not so 
marketable, he supposed they iniisi beloiin to some 
planter who was emigrating southward, fie inquir- 
ed if this was so, and" if their master was taking them 
home. A woman, in tones of itK^llowed despair an- 
swered him ; — " Oh, no, sir, wc are not ^oing home ! 
We don't know where we are going. The specula- 
tors have got us !" ' 

Tlie cruelties exercised in these passages 
a.-c not always unavenjjed by the miserable 
slaves. It is in the rccolldction of most men, 
hat a company of sixty slaves, while inarch- 
ii,'y Ihrongh the West some years nrro, killed 
i ' 1 of their drivers, and severely wounded 
tlii'.r purchaser. Two slfivc traders were 
slain by the slaves they were drivinnr to mar- 
ket, near Prince I^dward Court House, Va., 
about a month since. 

The anguish, wailing and despair which 
arc daily witnessed at the slave market, are 
themes familiar,— alas! too fimiliar to us 
all ; and your Committee will not now dwell 
iipeii them. The brutal «>xa(niiKition of 



Report on thi Domestic Slave Trade. 



35 



TTomen wliich takes place, is less spoken of 
tlian other particulars relating to that mighty 
inslrumenl of torture, a slave auction. 

On this topic your Committee refer to tlie 
testimony of Mr. Robinson, a member of the 
Lane Seminary, a citizen of Nashville, Ten- 
nessee, where he was graduated, and has 
resided. 

' After slaves arrive in market, ihcy are subjected 
to the most degrading examinations. The purchas- 
ers will roll up their sleeves and pantaloons, and ex- 
amine their muscles and joints critically, to ascertain 
their probable strength, and will even open their 
mouths and examine their teeth, with the same re- 
marks, and the same unconcern, that they would a 
horse.' 

' The females are exposed to the same rude exam- 
inations as the men. When a large drove of slaves 
arrives in a town for sale, placards arc put up at the 
corners of the streets, giving notice of the place and 
time of sale. Often they are driven through the 
streets for hours together (for the purpose of exhibit- 
ing them) exposed to the jeers and insults of the 
spectators. About a year since, Mr. Robinson saw 
about a hundred men, women and children, exposed 
for sale at one time in the market place at Nashville ; 
and while three auctioneers wore striking them off, 
purchasers examined their limbs and bodies with in- 
human roughness and unconcern. This was accom- 
panied with profanity, indelicate allusions, and bois- 
terous laughter.' 

' There are planters in the northern slave-states, 
who will not sell slave families, unless they can dis- 
pose of them all together. This they consider more 
humane, — as it in fact is. But such kindnesses are 
of no avail after the victims come into the southern 
markets. If it is not just as profitable for the traders 
to sell them in families, they hesitate not a moment 
to separate husband and wife — parents and children, 
and dispose of them to purchasers, residing in sec- 
tions of the country, remote from each other. When 
thev happen to dispose of whole families to the same 
mail, they loudly boast of it, as an evidence of their 
humanity.' 

What a condemnation of the general prac- 
tice of the slave traders, and indeed of their 
whole traffic do these boasts imply ! 

Your Committee had long entertained a 
painful suspicion, that corrupt and degener- 
ate persons from the United States were 
fraudulently introducing and holding slaves 
in the Texas, notwithstanding that slavery 
was abolished forever, throughout all Mex- 
ico, in the year 1829. This suspicion was 
founded upon the confident calculations of 
southern planters and politicians upon the 
Texas, as a future market of slaves, and upon 
their known eagerness to purchase or con- 
quer it.* Nevertheless, we did indulge the 
hope, that even fugitives and intruders fronn 
the United States, who should set down in 
that fair country, would have too much re- 
spect for their native land and her apparent 
institutions, to attempt to convert a friendly 



and free, into a slave state. Or, if this were 
not so, that the Government and people of 
Mexico would have too much respect for 
themselves to permit those base men to con- 
temn their laws, or even to pollute the soil 
with their presence. But we now regret to 
say, that we have met with evidence on this 
subject, which reduces suspicion to reality. 
Capt. Alexander, wliose work we have be- 
fore cited, makes the following statement. 

'The Mexicans complain with justice that instead 
of industrious and respectable settlers being intro- 
duced into Texas, in general the most worthless 
outcasts enter their territory. I heard of people 
there quarrelling and shooting one another with pis- 
tols in the open flay with impunity ; — of a dialogue 
between two friends, who unexpectedly met there. 
One asked what brought the other there. ' The 
murder of his brother-in-law.' The other ' bad fled 
after being delected in kidnapping free negioes.' 
Again, the Mexicans complain lliat they are htsuUed 
bi^ the Americans, who, contranj to express stipula- 
tion, introduce slaves into the colony, nmler pretence 
of their being' indented sei'vants ; and indeed it seems 
quite evident that the Americans are endeavoring to 
obtain possession of the country (a very tempting 
prize) — as they did Florida, by encourag;ing squat- 
ters to enter it, who when they are sufiicicniy nu- 
merous will rise under pretence of being oppressed, 
and an American force will be marched in to succor 
them, which retaining possession of the country, a 
compulsory sale will ensue.' Vol. 2, pp. 43 — 4. 

It is supposed by many persons now re- 
siding- at the South, that if the planters could 
not sell and send off a few slaves annually, 
to make up the deficiency of income from 
their agriculture, they would be obliged to 
abandon immediately so bad a system of la- 
bor. The Domestic Trade, in this view, is 
chargeable with the whole guilt of the con- 
tinuance of slavery in several of the States. 
It is impossible to form any satisfactory 
idea of the number of slaves annually sold 
in the United States, by the regular traders. 
There is no other branch of commerce, con- 
cerning which our government has given us 
no statistical information. It would bo un- 
seemly for a republican government to pub- 
lish these things, but not at all for a republi- 
can people to do them. 

One of your Committee* has informa- 
tion, on which we can rely, that one house in 
the District of Columbia exported one thou- 
sand, in the year 1833, and will export more 
the present year. They employ two vessels 
constantly. There is another house in the 
same District. A third, located in George- 
town, has been given up; not, liowever, on 
account of the decline of the trade, for that 
is allowed to be increasing. Prices are 



See Debates of the Virginia Convention. 



*Rev. Mr. Frost. 



36 



Minutes of the J\teiv- England Anli-Slavcry Convent'on. 



depressed at tliis moment, owinjr to the de- 
rangement of the currency, but tlie trade is 
unquestionably brisk and profitable. 

The high price of cotton and the 
ravages of the cholera last year, and the re- 
turn of the same blessing, (for such it has 
been said the poor slaves esteem it,) — and 
the new tracts of cheap and fertile land, 
wrested from the Indians, conspire, and will 
conspire, to increase the demand for slaves 
in tlie South and South-West, for some 
time to come. 

Mr. Niles in his Register states that in the 
week, ending Sept. IGth, 1831, three hun- 
dred and seventy one slaves were reported 
in the New-Orleans papers, as landed from 
Baltimore, Alexandria, Norfolk and Charles- 
ton. Supposing this to be an average num- 
ber, it would follow that the Domestic mari- 
time Slave Trade supplies that city with no 
less tlian twenty thousand sl'ivcs every year, 
three times the annual importation from a- 
broud into the United Slates, when the for- 
eign trade leas most brisk. We may add 
ten thousand for those landed in other states 
and territories, without touching at New- 
Orleans, and twenty thousand for the inland 
trade, making a total of fifti/ thousand men, 
trafficked yearly, in the U. S. like swine and 
turkeys from Kentucky. It is supposed by 
one gentleman in this Convention,*' that the 
number will this year e.Kcced one hundred 
thousand. 

It is a fact worthy of observation, that just 
at the precise time that the foreign slave 
trade was permitted, by our Constitution to 
cease, the Domestic was ready to begin. 
The turn of tlie tide could not have been 
calculated with more accuracy ! Perhaps we 
owe it to tiiid circumstance, that tlie law of 
1808 was passed at all ! Extensive arrange- 
ments would seem, by all accounts, to have 
been made in the northern slave states, to 
prepare a supply for the market, and to profit 
by llie vionopohj. And now tins dreadful re- 
sttlt takes place, that Q^^ slaves are the oubj 
domestic article, thf production of which, is 
encouraged hi/ a pndiihilory lari[J'..^Jli) 

In c<iiichision,your ('ouiMiittf^e rucoinincnd 
an earnest and early iippf-al to Congress on 
tliiti subject, liiut a petition, setting fortli tlic 
constitutional law, and tiie practical horrors 
and atrocities relating to this trade, be dralV 

j Ul'v. Mr. lilaiii, of PawuicUel. 



ed under the direction of the New-England 
Anti-Slavery Society, and printed with the 
minutes of this Convention, and sent to all 
parts of the country and to all Anti-Slavery 
Societies, for circulation and signatures; and 
they recommend the passage of the follow- 
ing resolution : 

Resolved, As the opinion of this Conven- 
tion, that the Domestic Slave Trade of the 
United States is equally atrocious in the 
sight of God with the foreign, that it equally 
involves the crimes of murder, kidnapping 
and robbery, and is equally worthy with the 
foreign to be denounced and treated by hu- 
man laws and tribunals as piracy, and those 
who carry it on as enemies of the human race. 

All which is respectfully submitted. 

D. li-:e child, 

JOHN FROST, 
RAV POTTER, 
JESSE PUTNAM, 
JOSEPH SOUTHWICK. 

TO TflE CHRISTIAN PUHLIC. 

The New-England Anti-Slavery Conven- 
tion, believing in the permanent importance 
of the Christian religion, in respect to the 
glory of its divine author, and the present 
and eternal interests of man ; and being fully 
assured of tlie entire incompatability of the 
whole system of slavery existing in these 
states, with the spirit and precepts of that 
holy religion; deem it tiicir iiigli duty to an- 
nounce their deliberate judgment on this 
most solenm and important subject. 

It is not necessary, at present, to describe 
by minute detail what is to be understood by 
tliat slavery which is contrary to the law 
of love, which is the law of God. The 
nation has declared in the tenth article of the 
treaty of peace with (ircat Britain, that all 
traffic in slaves is irreconcileable with the 
principles of justice aid humanity. Nor is 
it requisite to analyze tiie anomalies which 
may occasionally appear amid the operations 
of a general system, or to ascertain the in- 
dividual exceptions which may sometimes oc- 
cur in violation of a universal rule. By sla- 
very we intend that system of injustice, op- 
pression, and cruelty, which now exists in 
this republi<", sanctioned and jtrolonged by 
custom and laws. 

Tlie ('onvpution are fully satisfied, from 
the most indubitable testimony, to adopt the 
description, of one of the most eminent ec- 
clesiastical bodies in the union, that 'slaves 
enj(\v no instruction ; arc jirohibited from all 



Mdress to the Churches. 



37 



relative endearments ; cannot preserve tlicir 
personal purity and honor; realize all kinds 
of cruelty; are lawlessly separated from all 
their congenial and beloved companions; 
are trafficked witliout remorse, only to suffer 
additional anguish ; and that christian pro- 
fessors sell as slaves, members of the church, 
into the most awful bondage ! ' In view of 
a scene, presenting so dreadful an outrage 
on all justice, love and mercy, where is the 
christian who does not mourn and weep ? 
Where is the christian who does not fear 
and tremble ? Where is the professor of 
that religion, which speaks good will to all 
men, who can can doubt respecting the duty 
of contemplating and acting on this momen- 
tous topic ? 

Taking a retrospective view of the moral 
darkness with whicii this direful system has 
enshrouded our beloved country ; contem- 
plating it, as it has been in truth, a continual 
source of collision and animosity, no fact 
appears to be more certain than this ; that 
had the proper and legitimate moral and re- 
ligious influence been urged in all its force 
against slavery at the termination of the revo- 
lutionary war, the baneful system would then 
have been eradicated. But the principles of 
carnal, temporising and selfish expediency 
swayed ; and as the bitter consequence, the 
truth that that which is morally wrong can 
never bo politically right, we have found 
most lamentably verified. 

The Convention are fearfully impressed 
with the melancholy fact, that the evils, both 
moral and social, which are inseparably con- 
joined with slavery, have been accumulating 
in an augmented ratio, during the last fifty 
years, and that no efficient remedy has hith- 
erto been applied to these growing injuries, 
to the church and the world. On the con- 
trary, it is manifest, that the only means 
which, under the divine auspices, might have 
been effectual to overthrow slavery in the 
United States, through the decided perver- 
sion of them, have constituted tlio principal 
support of that unholy despotism. 

Christianity, that richest gift of the divine 
benevolence, is, in its legitimate sway, the 
only antidote to the corruption of our hearts, 
or to the propensities of man to transgress 
the commands of God, which relate to our 
duties to him and one another. But in refer- 
ence to slavery, its holy authority has been 
.contemned and prostrated ; its denunciations 



of iniquity have been either concealed and 
silenced, or transformed into a direct sanc- 
tion of that identical crime which they so 
authoritatively and solemnly condemn. 

No iniquity is so pernicious, as that, the 
abhorrent qualities of which, are apparently 
neutralized by decorating it in a Christian 
garb, and honoring it with a Christian name. 
Is it not the very climax of anomalies, that a 
system so replete with outrageous violations 
of moral law and reciprocal equity, should 
be openly countenanced as consistent with 
tiie blessed Gospel of Jesus Christ? What 
is that Gospel ? Is it not the reign of love, 
inspiring peace and good will among men ? 
And what is the system we deprecate ? What 
is slavery as it actually exists in these States, 
but a perpetual series of violations of this 
law of love ? What is it but a vile compound 
of transgressions of the precepts of the divine 
decalogue, in their most atrocious dcvclope- 
ments .' And now is it not high time for the 
professors of our holy religion, who are has- 
tening to the tribunal of Ilim who will not be 
mocked, to pause and enquire whether or not 
the slaveholder, or his abettors, can make an 
honest, credible and consistent profession of 
the religion of righteousness and truth and 
love ? ' Lord, who shall abide in thy taber- 
nacle ? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill? 
He that walketh uprightly, and worketh 
righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his 
heart. He that doeth not evil to his neigh- 
bor, nor taketh up a reproach against his 
neighbor. In whose eyes a vile person is 
condemned. He that taketh not reward 
against the innocent. Who shall dwell on 
high ? He that despiseth the gain of op- 
pressions, that shaketh his hands from hold- 
ing of bribes, that stoppcth his ears from 
hearing of blood, and shuttcth his eyes from 
seeing evil. Holiness bccometh tiiine house, 
O Lord, forever. 

Is the fruit of slavery, the fruit of the 
spirit ? Is it love, joy, peace, long suffering, 
gentleness, goodness, ladelity, meekness, 
temperance ? Is the language of God's chil- 
dren appropriate on the lips of a slaveholder? 
Can he say, in reference to this subject, 
'When the ear heard me, tlicn it blessed 
me ; and when the eye saw me, it gave wit- 
ness to me ; because I delivered the poor 
that cried, and the fatherless, and him that 
had none to help him. The blessing of him 
that was rcauly to perish came upon me ; and 



58 



Minutes of the J^eiu-England jlntl- Slavery Convention. 



I caused llie widow's heart to sing for joy. 
I was a fatiier to tlie pool-; and tlic cause 
whicli I know not I searched out. 

The whole system of slavery is as oppo- 
site to the religion of love, as darkness is 
opposite to light. We feel solemnly im- 
pressed with the assurance, tliut it is high 
time that our holy religion should bo disabu- 
sed of the charge of having tlie least affinity 
with a system so odious to infinite purity and 
love. A religion emanating from such a 
source, can liave no accordance with the 
court of iniquity which frameth mischief by 
a law. Consequently, its professors are sol- 
emnly charged, on the authority of the King 
ofKingrf, to iiave no fellowship wiili such 
works of moral darkness, but rather to re- 
prove tliem. 

Wliatevcr forbearance past ignorance in 
relation to this momentous subject may call 
for, we are assured that the flood of holy 
light which has now exposed and developed 
this system of consummate iniquity, enforces 
with unutterable obligation the mandate of 
the Almighty, that now all men should re- 
pent. 

The Convention have no wish to dictate 
to any Christian Church, in rospect to its or- 
der or duty. But for the sake of truth and 
love ; for the sake of our brethren suffering, 
bleeding and dying under this most unrigh- 
teous system ; for the sake of Zion's purity ; 
for the sake of our beloved country, which 
is threatened with the holy judgments of 
that Avenger, into whose ears the cries of 
the oppressed have entered ; and finally, for 
the sake of the present and eternal interests 
of more than two millions of souls, we ask, 
is there not a high and immediate duty de- 
volving on the whole churcij of the living 
Cod, which is the ground and pillar of tJic 
trulh ? 

We are indeed zealous, for we believe 
that it is good to be zealously affected in a 
good cause. Iha we wish to have zeal ac- 
cording to knowledge. We wish to give no 
cxnggerated view (if it be possible,) of the 
evil we deplore. We call for the dispas- 
Bionato and impartinl attention of the pro- 
fessed disciples of the Prince of liberators, 
wlio camo to mako us free from the law of 
Hill and death, to this affecting subject. And 
wo nslc, 

First. Arc not the principles and practi- 
ces of slavery, an it now actually exists in 



these States, really subversive in their na- 
ture and tendency of that truth and love 
which are the pillars of the temple of the liv- 
ing God ? 

Secondly. Has not the King of Zion, whom 
the Father has placed on the holy throne, 
instituted laws by his own precepts, and 
those of his inspired and commissioned Apos- 
tles, for the maintenance of the purity of his 
cliurch, that she may exhibit to the world 
what is that holy and acceptable and perfect 
will of God? 

Thirdly. Are not those laws applicable 
to the subject before us ? Is the fact of 
holding our brethren in slavery, of buying 
and selling, abusing and tormenting those 
for whom Christ died ; of withholding from 
them the book of God, the only lamp of life 
eternal, by keeping them in ignorance ; and 
the other concomitant evils, a course of pro- 
cedure so compatible with the principles and 
practices of our holy religion, as not to be 
the subject of those disciplinary laws which 
are essential to maintain the true character 
of the Christian Church ? 

The Convention wish not to be misunder- 
stood. Whatever may be the views of in- 
dividual members on this important subject, 
they do not as a body, at present, declare 
what, in their opinion, is the duty of the 
Christian Church in respect to the admission 
or exclusion of persons who may, in various 
ways and degrees, be maintaining this abom- 
inable system. It is believed that the whole 
nation has been guilty concerning our broth- 
er, in that wo have seen the anguish of his 
f-oul, when he besought us, and we would not 
hear. TJiis whole nation is involved in the 
guilt of robbing God of the workmanship of 
his hands. Let us not, however, blunt the 
arrows of conviction, by the delusive impres- 
sion that individual guilt is cancelled in the 
gross, or that we are secure because we have 
followed a multitude to do evil. 

The Convention do not hesitate to declare 
that, in their view, it is the indispensable 
duty of the churches of Christ to examine and 
judge, in what manner the laws of his holy 
kingdom apply to this subject; and what 
they are bound to do by these immutable 
laws of holiness and truth, which neither the 
blindness of prejudice, nor the picas of expe- 
diency can cvfT disannul. While they de- 
precate all measures wliich may tend to mar 



Productions oj^ Free Labor. 



39 



Ihat peace of Zion, which is the fruit of truth 
and love, they are in haste to disturb that de- 
ceitful calm of insensibility to iniquity, which 
is the precursor of that storm of retribution 
which righteousness awards to all the work- 
ers of iniquity. 

Attention to this important subject has been 
awakened at dift'r}rent times, and amoncf dif- 
ferent denominations of professing christians. 
More than seventy years ago, the Friends 
made a successful effort to purify themselves 
from this evil. The few members of that 
Society who had been allured from the path 
of righteousness and love, by the hope of 
gain, were persuaded to abandon their prac- 
tice. Many churches of the Baptist denom- 
ination, the Associate Presbyterian, and the 
Reformed Presbyterians, have considered it 
their duty to apply the laws of Jesus Christ 
more or less to this subject. If any suppose 
that these laws do not apply to this subject, 
■we ask, to what subject can they apply ? Tlie 
true church of Jesus Christ is denominated 
the light of the world, the salt of the earth. 
It deserves the solemn consideration of all 
the churches in the United States, who claim 
a title to this high and holy character, wheth- 
er or not they are exhibiting these charac- 
teristics in relation to the subject before us. 
Are they the light of the world in respect to 
the true evil and guilt of slavery ? Is their 
testimony, verbal and practical, clear, holy, 
and decisive on this matter? Are they pre- 
serving themselves from the corruption of 
this ruinous iniquity ? Alas ! so far from 
this, it is our belief, that the criminal supine- 
ness of men professing godliness, and the 
intimate and incongruous connection of sla- 
very in its most odious forms, with the church- 
es in these States, has long constituted the 
chief shield with whicli this man of sin has 
repelled the arrows of truth. Hadthe cham- 
pions of the Cross gone forth with the whole 
armor of God, with invincible prayer, they 
would long ago have seen this monster fall 
like Pliilistia's Idol before the Ark of the 
Almighty. And now we are well assured 
that all other means, without these, will prove 
abgrtive. Solemnly impressed with this con- 
viction, and feeling our accountability to the 
God of justice and mercy, we do most ear- 
nestly and affectionately call upon all who 
fear God, to cast away that compromising 
spirit and that illusive doctrine of expedien- 
cy, which have so long sacrificed truth, 



righteousness and love, the laws of God and 
the rights of man, on their reeking and pol- 
luted altars. 

Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God 
hath shined. Our God shall come, and shall 
not keep silence ; a fire shall devour before 
him — he shall call to the heavens from above, 
and to the earth, that he may judge his peo- 
ple — and tiie heavens shall declare his righ- 
teousne?:?, for God is Judge himself. Hear, 

my people, and I will speak, O Israel, and 

1 will testify against thee.' 

Does not this solemn appeal call on all the 
professed people of the Lord, in thia slave- 
holding and guilty nation, to prepare to meet 
their God in his awful judgments, if we re- 
pent not? May the Lord grant us that re- 
pentance to the acknowledgmentand practice 
of the truth. 

HENRT GREW, Chuirman. 



PRODUCTIONS OF FREE LADOR. 

The Committee appointed to inquire into 
the expediency of recommending to the 
American Anti-Slavery Society to make the 
offer of a premium of such amount as they 
shall deem proper, on certain articles produ- 
ced by free labor in any part of the United 
States, beg leave to report : 

Your Committee believe that the subject 
of the resolution committed to their consid- 
eration, has a bearing on the good cause 
which we are associated to promote, of such 
importance as to merit the serious attention 
of the Convention. 

It must be obvious to every reflecting 
mind, that the desolating waters of slavery, 
which, amid storms of vile oppressions, are 
bearing away their miserable victims to the 
ocean of death, are to be traced to the foun- 
tains of depravity in the human heart. The 
idolatry of covctousness, which the Lord of 
all abhorreth, has sacrificed on its cruel al- 
tars all the rights and interests of man. 

What motive induced the owner of the 
first slave ship to invade the land of the col- 
ored man, to steal his brother, and bear him 
away from his wife, his children, and his 
home ? Was it not that love of money whicb 
is the root of all evil ? What induced the 
West India planter to purchase the living 
flesh and blood and bones sent to him by the 
soul of avarice ? Was it not the hope of 
unrighteous gain, to be obtained from the 



40 



Minnies of the JVeiv- England Jlnti-SIaverij Convenlion, 



hard and unrequited labors of tlio wretched 
captive? And on wlint foundation did that 
hope rest, but on the assurance that individ- 
uals would purchase and consume the pro- 
duce of that uncompensated and cruel toil P 
Here, then, we see the galling chain, and 
that it is the last link which moves all the 
rest. As it is for the consumer of the fiery 
poison, tliat the retailer applies to the whole- 
sale vender, and he to the distiller; so in 
this case, it is for the consumer the lash is 
driving t!ic slave to his toil, the man-stealcr 
is going about this land of pretended free- 
dom seeking whom he may devour, and the 
slave sliip is violating all law both human 
and divine. 

Let the consumers of the liquid poison say 
to the retailer, we shall drink no more of 
your waters of death, and wjiat is the con- 
sequence ? He buys no more ; the whole- 
sale vender buys no more ; the distiller 
makes no more. So if the consumers of 
slave produce should say, we will no longer 
be partakers of other men's sins, we will eat 
no mor'-, we will wear no more, the product 
of fraud and oppression, of the groans and 
tears of our brethren, the consequence must 
be, that the labor of the slave would be val- 
uable no more. TJie sordid and reckless 
trafficker in human souls would buy and sell 
no more ; and no more would the ocean bear 
on her polluted bosom the abodes of the 
miserable victims of relentless avarice and 
cupidity. 

It is believed tliat free labor, if generally 
established on equitable principle, would pro- 
mote, in various respects, the prosperity of 
the slaveholding States. It is obvious, how- 
ever, that under the present direful and la- 
incnlod system, tlie extraordinary efforts and 
nii-ans necessary to furnish the friends of 
humanity with the articles enumerated in the 
rcsolution.in the desirable contemplated man- 
ner, must be attended with some additional 
expense. It cannot, therefore, be reasonably 
c.vpcctcd that tin; end proposed in the reso- 
lution can be obt.-iim d wiihout the means it 
suggests. 

Impressed with the belief that the object 
of the resolution is in perfect accordance 
with thn ;rre:it and distinguisliing principle 
of our nuli|<! association, ymir Conunittce 
])ro3cnt these few considerations, which in- 
• line thcin to the conclusion that the recom- 



mendation proposed in the following resoitt-' 
tion is expedient : 

Resolved, That it be recommended to 
the American Anti-Slavery Society to make 
the offer of a premium of dollars for 

every cv.t. of merchantable cotton ; for 

every cwt. ofrice; for every cwt of 
sugar; and for hhds. of molasses, of a 
good and merchantable quality: — such pre- 
mium to be paid upon satisfactory evidence 
being presented tliat such articles are the 
produce of yree labor in any part of the Uni^ 
ted States. 

All which is respectfully submitted. 
HExXRY GREW, 
SAMUEL FOSTER, 
HENRY E. BENSON. 



MANUAL LABOR SCHOOL. 

The Committee to whom was submitte(i 
the subject of ' Manual Labor Schools,' ask 
leave respectfully to 

REPORT. 

Your Committee are not only satisfied of 
the utility of manual labor schools, m gener-' 
al, when organired on sound principles, and 
managed by a judicious policy ; but they are 
deeply impressed with the conviction, that 
such schools, if carried into operation by 
those who maintain the /;-hc principles of civil 
and religious liberty, will tend, more than al- 
most any other iueans, to elevate the condi- 
tion of our free colored population, put them 
in possession of those privileges which are 
their due as Jlmencan citizens, and power- 
fully co-operate with those great moral caus- 
es, which are now in operation to the ulti- 
mate extinction of slavery. 

We are well aware that the colored popu- 
lation throughout New-England have, by 
custom and prejudice, — which are stronger 
than law, — if not by law iUself, been almost 
universally excluded the blessings of science 
and of literature. If here and there a feto 
have been raised to enjoy the boon of what 
maybe called an ordinary education ; and 
here and there an individual has attained to 
any degree of eminence in science or litera- 
ture, it has been wholly without any public 
aid, or even those ordinary inducements, 
wiiioh are held out to all other classes of the 
comnmnity. The soul, imbued with an in- 
herent and unfiucnchablo thirst for knowl- 
edge, has been obliged to/orcc its way against 
obstaclcsjwhich required the utmost fortitude, 



Manual Lahor School. 



41 



fesoliltion, and perseverance to surmount ; 
and nothing but that noble energy of mind, 
which occasionally bursts those bonds by 
which prejudice and misanthropy have sought 
to enchain it, has ever been sufficient to ob- 
tain those draughts at the ' Pierian spring,' 
which are so salutary to an immortal mind. 
Shut out from our high-schools, academies, 
and colleges, and, in very few instances, en- 
joying any of those primary instructions 
which are afforded to white children, it would 
seem as if one great system of darkness had 
been framed and carried into execution for 
the express purpose of perpetually shroM d- 
ing our whole colored population. Thus the 
iron hand of prejudice and of hatred crushes 
a brother to the dust, and then the finger of 
scorn points him out as an ohjecttoo degrad- 
ed and unworthy to enjoy the blessings of 
freedom ! 

In order to remedy these, and other serious 
evils which could not be enumerated in this 
Report ; your Committee are persuaded, that 
it is the imperious duty of the people of Ne w- 
England to provide schools expressly for the 
benefit of the colored population. But, as 
the institution of Primary Schools, on the 
best system, for the instruction of children, 
must be the work of time, and cannot come 
within the scope of our immediate efforts ; 
your Committee recommend, that it be a pri- 
mary object of this Convention, in connec- 
tion with the New-England Anti-Slavery 
Society, as speedily as possible, to establish, 
in New-England, one High Manual Labor, 
or Self-supporting School, for the express 
purpose of educating those colored persons, 
who may be disposed to avail themselves of 
ils advantages. The establishment of one 
such school, on enlightened and liberal prin- 
ciples, would tend to prepare the way for 
others of a similar nature ; would speedily 
qualify individuals to engage in the instruc- 
tion of Primary Schools ; and your Commit- 
tee think, that such a measure would very 
tsoon open the way for the light of literature 
and of science, to beam upon a now benight- 
ed and ' degraded ' population. Such a meas- 
ure as this, to be carried into eff'ect as speed- 
ily as possible, seems absolutely necessary, 
in order to secure the munificent bequest of 
a worthy, venerable and enlightened philan- 
thropist, not long since deceased ; to secure 
the great object of Mr. Garrison's mission 
to Engiand, and to render of any avail those 

n 



funds which have already been raised for 
this object, by the friends of humanity both 
in England and America. For the accom- 
plishment of this object, many have now 
been looking, for a considerable time, with 
intense feelings of friendly interest; others 
have inquired, with a sneering smile, ' What 
has become of your Manual Labor School ;' 
not a few, with confident expectation, that 
something efficient would speedily be done, 
have asked, 'When is the Manual Labor 
Sciiool going into operation ? ' and others 
still have stood ready liberally to contribute 
Cot tliat abject, whenever they could see a 
rational prospect of its being accomplished. 

The School which your Committee con- 
template, and which is doubtless contempla- 
ted by this Convention and by the New-Eng- 
land Anti-Slavery Society, would probably 
require, to commence its successful opera- 
tion, a sum of dollars. To this sum, 

John Kenrick, Esq., late of Newton, and late 
President of the New-England Anti-Slavery 
Society, bequeathed 250 dollars ; and the 

sum of dollars has already been raise^ 

in England and in this country. So that the 

sum of "- dollars is now necessary to 

be raised in order to commence the operation 
of the School contemplated in this Report. 

The Committee, therefore, believing that 
the time and the day has now arrived when 
a prompt, and earnest, and vigorous effort 
ought to be made for the immediate estab- 
lishment in New-England of a Manual Labor 
School for our colored brethren — and believ- 
ing that the subject ought to receive the full 
and deliberate attention of this Convention, 
submit the following Resolutions: 

L Resolved, That a vigorous cffbrt ought 
to be made for the immediate establishment 
of the Manual Labor School. 

2. Resolved, That a subscription be now 
opened in this Convention, for this specific 
purpose, and that we request our friends in 
this Convention to give thissubsciption their 
liberal and zealous support. 

3. Resolved, That a Committee be ap- 
pointed by this Convention to see that the 
fullest means be used to raise by subscrip- 
tions and contributions, before the end of 
six months, the sum of ten thousand dollars, 
to be wholly devoted to the establishment of 
the school, and that this Committee be re- 
quested to prepare and publish an address 
to the public, and to appoint an agent to col- 
lect donations and contributions. 



42 



Minutes of the JSTew-England Anti-Slavery Convcniion. 



e S> 10 2J CS S1I2 Q a 



Wednesday Evemng, May 28. 

IMR. STUART'S SPEECH. 
Mr. Charles Stuart of England, ad- 
dressed the audience. What, said he, is 
the cause that brings us lierc this evening, 
my friends. It is the cause of freedom in a 
land of boasted freedom— it is the cause of 
the colored man, for ho is oppressed, and 
whcfever man is oppressed, there the Scrip- 
tures teach us is our neighbor — it is the 
cause of the white man, for^he is the crimi- 
nal, and we are taught to care for those wlio 
are criminal as we would ourselves be cared 
for— it is the cause of liberty, of truth, of 
benevolence, of mercy, of justice,— the 
cause of the great God himself. 

But before I proceed to present some few 
reasons why this cause should engage the 
attention of every philanthropist and chris- 
tian, permit me to say a few words, in givino- 
my testimony to correct two errors which I 
find have been widely circulated in this 
country. One is that tlie blessed Wilbor- 
force ; once blessed on earth, as all are who 
love the Lord, now blessed in heaven as all 
shall be whom the Lord lovcth ; had signed 
the protest against the Colonization plan, 
while laboring under the debility of sick- 
ness, and not in the full possession of liis 
judgment. I have heard this story since I 
left England, and I now wish to give it a de- 
nial, and proclaim it a falsehood. No, it 
was upon full, candid and prayerful investi- 
gation that he put his name to that docu- 
ment, in the full possession of his holy mind, 
before the brief sickness that terminated his 
life had seized him, and it rejoiced his spirit, 
when about to depart to receive its reward, 
tliat this was one of the last acts of his life 
to leave his testimony airainst a system 
adapted to strcngtiicn unjust prejudices, and 
rivet the chains of slavery. 

Another misrepresentation I wish to cor- 
rect is in reference to the visit of Mr. Gar- 
rison to England. It has been stated that 
while in England he traduced his country. 
It is not true, dear friend,-!. I lived with 
him a month in London. I do not believe 
him a hyimcrite, and if he wore, I Jiud every 
possilile opportunity of knowing liis real scm- 
tmjcnls, and if over F knew a pun; minded 
luaii, ardently devoted to a pure cause, thut 



man is William Lloyd Garrison. lie never 
slandered his country in private or public. I 
wish to give this denial, from personal ob- 
servation. 

I will now offer as a resolution the follow- 
ing: 

Resolved, That immediate emancipation 
is the only right and efficient remedy for 
slavery. 

Whatia slavery.' By slavery we mean the 
bondage of persons innocent of any crime 
by which they can have forfeited their right 
to that liberty which God has given to every 
man who cometh into the world. It is the 
bondage of the innocent. It is such slavery 
as exists in one half of this glorious em- 
pire. It is a state in which those under it 
have no legal protection for their person, 
their property, or even for the chastity of 
their wives and daughters. Nay, more, they 
have no right to cultivate their immortal 
minds. This is the condition in which one 
sixth part of the innocent population of this 
great and free empire arc placed by its laws. 
Yes, Mr, President, one in every six of the 
people of this free Republic are slaves. 
They have no sufficient protection for their 
lives because they may be taken with impu- 
nity, or at most for the penalty of a fine. 
They have no right to acquire property for 
themselves, and can call nothing their own. 
They have no right to receive instruction^ 
nor has any one the right to preach to them- 
the unsearchable riches of Christ. 

But these slaves are so well off, say those 
who justify or excuse slavery ; is it not a 
blessing for them to have been brought fronr 
their barbarous country to a land of light 
and liberty, w^here they arc made so com- 
fortable .' As if we had a right to f-teal mei> 
and deprive them of liberty, in order to make 
them haj)py against their will. 1 will answer 
this as the clergyman did, in the North of 
Ireland, I will suppose, he said, that Nicho- 
las, the emperor of Russia, should die, and 
the throne be loll vacant. I will suppose 
that the nobles of that great empire had 
heard of me, a poor minister in the north 
of Ireland, and had sent a deputation to sum- 
mon me to the vacant throne. Still, I should 
prefer my own coarse fare, my litUe parish, 
my homely fire.'^id(\ my relations and Iricnds, 
here in llii.-j obscure j)lacc, to all the pomp of 
the throne of Russia; nnist I be torn forci- 
bly from tlK;ni, because those who c.irry mo 



Speech of Mr. Stuart. 



43 



away insist that I should be happier as an 
emperor, than as I am ? Would it be any 
compensation to me for the loss of liberty 
and all I loved, to give me a throne ? This 
is the answer of the slave, when you attempt 
to justify the robbery of his freedom, be- 
cause he may be, in your opinion, better off, 
than if he had not been stolen. 

The remedy we propose for this great evil 
of slavery, is immediate emancipation, by 
which is meant the immediate substitution of 
right law for wrong law, of equitable law for 
unequitable law ; in short, emancipation 
without expatriation. Who, in a land of 
freedom, can take pleasure in a law which 
authorizes one class of men to be as cruel 
and as selfish as they please, to another class 
equal before God, and alike entitled to their 
unalienable right of freedom, and yet with- 
out protection, from law? 

The friends of anti-slavery seek to de- 
liver these innocent people from tyranny and 
despotism, and restore them to liberty. Lib- 
erty ! What man, woman or child is there 
here, who would not sooner lay down their 
life than lose their liberty by an unjust law? 
And shall we not do unto others who are in 
bondage, as we would they should do unto 
us, were we in their case, and they in ours ? 
Immediate emancipation is the right reme- 
dy, because it is right that the slave should 
go free ; every other measure, is merely pre- 
paring to do right, while we are still con- 
tinuing to do wrong. Will you ever accom- 
plish any good purpose in this way ? You 
may prepare, and continue preparing, but so 
long as you do nothing but prepare, you con- 
tinue to do wrong. The question is a sim- 
ple one. Slavery is wrong. He who con- 
tinues to hold his fellow man in bondage, or 
countenances others in so doing, does wrong 
or upholds wrong. The only right thing is 
that the slave should have his freedom. The 
slaveholder may say he is preparing to do 
right, but that is not doing right. The drunk- 
ard may be preparing to do right, and yet 
continue to resort to the intoxicating bowl. 
The robber may be preparing to do right, 
and still persist in his lawless depredations. 
The liar raay be preparing to do right, and 
still go on in falsehood and wickedness. 
There is no right so long as tlie wrong is 
practised. Half of right is not right. If I 
restore one half of what I have dishonestly 
taken frona my neighb&r, do I do right ? If I 



wait to repair the wrong I have done, until 
I can do so without injury to myself, is that 
doing right? We owe to the slave his lib- 
erty, of which he has been unjustly deprived. 
Emancipation can alone pay the debt. We 
cannot stop shoi't of our whole duty, for man 
has no license to stop short of that point. 

Let us make the case of the slave our 
own, and bring it home to the community in 
which you live. Suppose a respected and 
beloved family in the city of Boston, should 
be kidnapped, and carried into slavery, a 
calamity which, thank God, cannot happen in 
this community of laws and good order; and 
yet white men have been stolen and carried 
into bondage, as well as colored men. Not 
long ago, travelling in the South part of 
Ireland, I was shown the ruins of a castle on 
the sea, where, in former years, a band of 
Algerine Corsairs had landed, had made 
prisoners or put to death every soul, and car- 
ried off three hundred people as slaves. 
Suppose that a similar outrage should hap- 
pen here, and a father, a mother and their 
children should be kidnapped. What would 
satisfy you? Would any thing satisfy you 
short of the restoration of the whole to their 
freedom ? Would the return of tljie father, 
while the wife and children were left in 
bondage, be a reparation of the wrong? 
Would the restoration of both the parents, 
while the children were retained, be all that 
you would ask ? Would you be content to 
have one left behind? No, nothing would 
be sufficient to repair the wrong, but bring- 
ing back father, mother, children, all. 

Take the case of a slavemaster, and let U3 
see if he is satisfied with any thing short of 
his whole right. He has a legal right to op- 
press his fellow men, and a heart to avail 
himself of this legal right. He has lost a 
slave, who has fled from bondage to a free 
state. The law allows him to reclaim the 
slave. Will he be satisfied with any thing 
short of the whole slave, or the whole of his 
value? He insists on immediate restora- 
tion, and though years may pass away, be- 
fore he discovers the slave he has lost, still 
he claims him as his property. 

A slave made his escape from a southern 
state, eight or nine years ago, and got to 
Philadelphia. This was no crime in the 
slave. It was right for him to have his free- 
dom, and the law cannot make a right action 
wrong. TIijC slave was guilty of no crime 



44 



Minutes of the .Ytw- England A)iti-Slavei'i/ Convention. 



in taking what ho had been robbed of, his 
liberty. He got employment in Philadel- 
phia, was industrious and prosperous; — mar- 
ried, and was rearing a little family in love. 
A few months ago, the man who claimed 
him as his slave discovered him, and urged 
his claim, and it was allowed by the law. 
The owner of the slave was offered throe 
hundred dollars if he would let him remain 
in freedom. Was this sufficient? Pid it 
satisfy him ? No. He said, ' I would not 
take a thousand dollars for him. I must car- 
ry him back to my plantation ; I must punish 
him, in the sight of all my slaves, to strike 
terror into their minds, and teach them, that 
though they may go clear for years, they 
will finally be brought back and made to 
suffer, if they run away from their master. 
When I have punished him enough, then if 
you will come and offer me a thousand dol- 
lars, perhaps I will take it.' 

Now if the slavemaster, under all these 
claims to his mercy and generosity, would 
not abate a jot of his price for his slave, 
shall the friends of emancipation — shall the 
injured slave himself, be satisfied with any 
thing short of a full restitution of all his 
rights to the slave ? Shall we deem any 
thing sufficient but this.' Yes, my friends, 
tiie slavemaster teaches us our duty. He 
insists upon all his rights, even to the tear- 
ing of the husband and father from tiie wife 
and children ; and has not the unhappy slave 
a prior right, a higher and a holier right — 
the unalienable rigiit of liberty ? 

I will not pursue this subject. I might 
draw a picture of this one instance of the 
effects of slavery that would make the heart 
weep, but I forbear, and will content myseff 
with offering the resolution, — [which was 
then adoptf.d.] 



SPEECH OF REV. fi. L. POMROY. 

Mr. President, — The ground of the prin- 
ciples of anti-slavery are, that it is the duty 
of all men, every where, to do right. Tiiere 
l.s a right, and there is a wrong, in every act 
riMjuiring moral agency. On wliich side are 
you, is tiie question — are you right or are 
you wrong? Now, as friends of emaucipa- 
liuii, we say that if any one is doing wrong, 
ho should leave off doing wrong ; not next 
year, or ne.\t week, when he has done more 
wrong, but noiv, at this moment, before he 



can do any more wrong. Slavery is wrong. 
It never can be right. The longer it is per- 
sisted in the greater will the wrong accumu- 
late. This is our principle — cease to do 
wrong ! We proclaim it in peace and love. 
We want to emblazon it on the heavens, to 
blow it through a trumpet, — let the oppressed 
go free, until every ear is made to hear, and 
every heart to feel and believe — and as soon 
as men are convinced it must be done, we 
sliall have no trouble about the means — 
there will be a way to effect it. It is in this 
belief, that our starting principle is placed on 
a foundation which cannot be moved, that 
I offer as a Resolution. 

Resolved, That no valid objection can be 
urged against the principles and measures 
of the Anti-Slavery Society. 

Ours is the golden rule, do unto others as 
ye would that others should do unto you. 
Who. then, if he were a slave, would not 
wish to be free ? Would you ask for colon- 
ization or for immediate emancipation? 
Every moment you keep the slave in bond- 
age, you violate the law of love, and yet we 
are told, that if we knock off the fetters of 
the slave and let him go free, it would be 
very cruel to him indeed, and we ought to 
keep him in slavery some hundred years 
longer, until we can civilize Africa, and 
prepare a place to send him there, where he 
will trouble nobody but people of his own 
color ! Is this the law of love ? Is this the 
way you would wish to be done by, if you 
were slaves in a foreign land, or in the land 
where you were born ? 

This is the right test to settle this ques- 
tion by--Come down at once to the condi- 
tion of the slave, and make it your own. 
How long would a free man like to live in 
slavery? Suppose we were all slaves, as- 
sembled here to discuss our right to be free, 
how long should we propose to have the pro- 
cess go on, of making us freemen ? Would 
we wait till our children or grand children 
should take our places ? No. Tiiere would 
be but one voice, and that voice would be, 
immediate emaiicipation .' 

But it is said that we cannot elevate the 
people of color here, and we must send them 
to Africa, in order to elevate tiiem ; thougii 
they never can be elevated much any wiiere, 
because tiieir skins arc so mucii darker tiian 
ours. And who are avo, the pale faces, but 
a small portion of mankind, a new race, com* 



Speech of Rev. S. L. Pomroy. 



45 



paratively ; and yet we rise up and say our 
color i3 the only true color, and all other 
color is incapable of being elevated to our 
standard. I deny it. God made the soul of 
man of no particular complexion, and he is 
no more a respecter of colors, than he is 
a respecter of per.sons. The colored people 
not only can be elevated, but they are many 
of them elevated, even under all the dis- 
couragements and prejudices they have to 
contend against. 

I went to visit a colored family, with sev- 
eral gentlemen, recently, in Philadelphia. 
The father was seventy years of age, w;th a 
family of three daughters. We found them 
elevated and refined, with a cultivation of 
mind and manners that would have adorned 
the best society. When we left the house, 
the clergymen, who were with me, said to 
each other, we talk of elevating these peo- 
ple, and because we are white and they are 
black, we doubt whether they ever can be 
elevated to our condition. So strongly im- 
pressed was the gentleman who made this 
remark, that he shed tears at the recollec- 
tion of the scene we had witnessed. These 
people were elevated in spite of every thing 
to counteract their own efforts. The idea 
of inferiority of intellect in the people of 
color is wholly without foundation. We 
falsely attribute to natural organization, the 
irresistible influence of circumstances upon 
our colored population. Go to the intelligent 
slaveholder himself, and ask him if his slaves 
are incapable of being elevated. He will 
laugh at you, if you tell him that his favorite 
slaves are not equal in faculties to white men. 
To say they cannot be elevated, is to say 
that the gospel cannot purify and elevate 
colored men ; and if the gospel cannot do 
this, then it must be a settled point that 
either the colored man or the white man is 
to be shut out of heaven. Both cannot go 
there, unless both are alike capable of being 
elevated by the teachings of the gospel. 

But some people say that we have no 
business to meddle with this matter. We 
at the north have nothing to do with slaves, 
and need not trouble our heads about their 
management at the South. That is the af- 
fair of their masters, and we have no con- 
cern with it! 

Now, Sir, if this is a good argument I call 
upon some of those who urge it, to move, at 
the next meeting of the American Bible So- 



ciety, of which they are members, to stop 
their presses, and print no more Bibles to 
meddle with the concerns of other people. 
Let them move, in the Missionary Societies, 
that the missionaries they have sent abroad 
to meddle with other people's souls be forth- 
with called home, for we have no business to 
interfere with the concerns of the uncon- 
verted, and must not trouble our heads about 
their worship of idols, and the sacrifice of 
victims to their superstitions and their false 
gods ! ! Will these men follow this advise, 
while they recommend to us to leave the 
slaveholders alone to do as they please ? By 
no means. No one thinks of applying this 
doctrine to any thing but the Anti-Slavery 
Society. If the Greeks are struggling for 
freedom three thousand miles off"; if the 
Poles are suffering under the despotism of 
Russia: we can then interfere— Oh, yes! it 
is the highest duty of patriotism and benev- 
olence to interfere, and help set them free ; 
all the eloquence of the press and the pul- 
pit is roused, to induce us to interfere ; but 
when we point to these poor colored people, 
rio-ht in our own boasted land of freedom, 
here in our midst, the answer is, let them die 
—let their masters scourge and oppress them 
as they will — we have no right to interfere ! 
I have no faith in this doctrine. I believe, 
that as long as there are souls to be saved, 
we have something to do with every man on 
the globe, as far as our influence can be 
made to reach ; especially have we some- 
thing to do with more than two millions of 
Americans whom we of the North consented 
the South should hold in bondage, and, so 
far, have become participators in the guilt of 
slavery. This was the sin of our fathers. 
The people of the North have upheld slave- 
ry, and made it constitutional. The guilt is 
theirs, and it is their duty to repair the 
wrong they have aided in doing, to an inno- 
cent race. They can do it, and do it effec- 
tually ; for whenever the North will rise as 
one man, and demand that the slaves shall be 
free, it will be done. God calls upon us 
to break their chains, not by violence, but by 
the resistless moral force of truth! We 
have got a great deal to do, and we can do 
a great deal, to bring about the emancipation 
of more than two millions of our fellow- 



men. 



But it is said, ' Why do you make so much 
noise about it here, at the North, where 



46 



Mnutes of the JV.w- England .Inti- Slavery Convention. 



there arc no slaves. Why don't you go to 
the South, and preach to the slaveliolders 
there ? You can be very bold and bluster 
here, but you don't dare to go to the South, 
and hold forth your anti-slavery doctrines. 
If you Avcre sincere you would go there, 
and preach to those Avho need it.' 

Now we Yankees know better than this. 
"We don't go to work in this way to accom- 
plish an important object. We know that 
we can reach the slaveholder more effectu- 
ally here, than we could at the South. Why, 
Sir, you know if we went to the South and 
attempted to tell them the plain truth, they 
would gag us, and perhaps put us in jail, or 
offer a reward for our heads, as the refined 
Legislature of Georgia did, for our brother 
here, (Mr. Garrison) so that wc should have 
no chance to preach the truth. But so long 
as we have the freedom of speech and of the 
press here, we can reach the slaveholder, 
and produce an impression upon him, which 
lie will long resist, but from which he cannot 
finally escape. It is the power of truth, and 
it will prevail. I saw a Tennessee slavehold- 
er, the other day, and I asked him if ho had 
ever heard of the Anti-Slavery Society ? 
His reply was, we are well informed of your 
proceedings. We know what you are doing, 
and our interest makes us alive to your move- 
ments. You think you make us angry, but 
I tell you honestly, and other slaveholders if 
they speak honestly will tell you so too, wc 
think you will eventually accomplish your 
object, but I think you are going too fast. 
The time, he thought, had not yet come for 
our principles to find favor in the slave slates, 
but it must come one day or other, and he 
was prepared for it, but not now. These 
were the views of an intelligent slaveholder 
in the West. lie had heard of anti-slavery 
doctrines. Sir, you cannot touch a cord in 
this groat republic that does not vibrate 
through the whole. Every pulsation at the 
North is felt at the South. Every effort 
made for liome emancipation, strikes there. 
Intelligence is sought after. Their own sen- 
sitiveness on this subject, an undefined 
consciousness that thoy are holding a spe- 
cies of property to which thoy have no just 
claim, induce them to seek after intelligence, 
to learn what is going forward in the march 
of public opinion, which is calling louder 
and louder, for the emancipation of the 
slave. Sir, we arc doing just the thing to 



enable the slaveholder to acomplish his own 
wishes, in being relieved from the curse of 
slavery. Wc are bringing the minds of the 
public to the conviction that slavery must be 
abolished, and when that conviction becomes 
universal, it will be done. I repeat, there 
will be no difliculty in finding the means. 

But it is said that the Constitution and 
laws recognize slavery, and therefore we 
have no right to meddle with it. Just so the 
Constitution and the laws recognized the 
foreign slave trade, a fow years ago. Why 
did we undertal^e to meddle with that, and 
deprive the slave dealer of his very profit- 
able commerce in human flesh ? Was it 
right to carry on the slave trade when it was 
not prohibited by law ? And if it was not 
right to traffic in the souls and bodies of men 
abroad, can it be any more right to do so at 
home? Let those who talk of slavery being 
constitutional and lawful, restore the slave 
trade in all its glories; for if it is right to 
hold slaves and sell them here, it verily must 
be right to import them, and buy and sell 
them abroad. 

Those who think to stop our mouths by 
saying that slavery is sanctioned by the Con- 
stitution and laws, must go upon the princi- 
ple that bad laws are never to be changed. 
We do not seek to violate the law but to 
change it ; change it by the resistless force 
of ])ublic opinion. Why, Sir, law and cus- 
tom formerly sanctioned drinking rum and 
brandy, and they do so still, though to a less 
extent— but does that make hrighl ? Ought 
you to stop in the temperance reform, because 
it is laivfid for men to sell and to drink ar- 
dent spirit ? Why do you meddle with tlie 
rights and the profits of the rum trader if we 
are not to meddle with the riirhts and the 
profits of the slave trader ? The law and 
the constitution protect one, as much as the 
other, and instead of depriving the slave- 
holder of his property, we mean to increase 
it, by giving him free labor, instead of slave 
labor. 

But be the laws as thoy may, the laws of 
falliblo man cannot maki- tliat which is mor- 
allij trroiig, even jwlillrdlli/ right, or expe- 
dient, or useful. The question is not what 
arc the laws, in this respect, but are the 
laws right? If thoy are morally and politi- 
cally wrong, then the thing for us to do, is 
not to resist such laws, but to see that they 
arc repealed ; and to this end to quicken and 



speech of Rev. S. L. Pomroy. 



4r 



extend public opinion, until Legislatures are 
forced to repeal such unjust laws. If there 
is a stain on our boasted constitution — a stain 
of blood, let us hasten to wipe it off. We 
seek to redeem the constitution from the dis- 
grace of making our Declaration of Inde- 
pendence a falsehood, and it is because we 
love our country that we desire to see her 
laws recognizing slavery, forever abolished. 
There is another objection which is urged 
against the Anti-Slavery principles with 
great earnestness. They tell us, 'your plan 
is to emancipate the slaves at home, but O ! 
horrible ! just as sure as you let the slaves 
go Jree, they will turn right round and stab 
their masters, and the land will be deluged 
with blood ! ' In other words, if you do right, 
hy these your oppressed fellow men ; if you 
say to them you are free, if instead of exact- 
ing their labor, as slaves, at the end of the 
■whip, you employ them as your laborers, by 
mutual agreement, and give them the benefit 
of their voluntary industry — if you undertake 
to treat them in this manner, why then they 
will certainly stab you for it, on the spot ! 

Stab you for it ? No ! These poor, crush- 
ed beings, to whom the voice of kindness 
and freedom would come like an angel of 
peace, tell them they were free, that you 
wanted their services as men, and not as 
slaves, and they would fall at your feet, and 
help you, and hold themselves in readiness 
to do any labor in their power for you ; you 
would then have willing hands and grateful 
hearts around you, instead of the half-starved, 
wretched and beaten slave, brooding over 
his Avrongs, and thirsting for vengeance on 
his oppressors. 

I do not understand this, Mr. President. 
It is the strangest doctrine in the world, that 
if you do right, and give a man just wliat he 
most wants, he will be so angry, tliat he will 
take your life for iti Look at it, a moment, 
and the argument refutes itself. All facts 
in history show that immediate emancipation 
has always proved a safe remedy. How was 
it in Mexico ? The colored people were 
placed on an entire equality, by the Consti- 
tution. There was no stabbing of masters 
there, no murders, no violence, and no ne- 
cessity for expatriation. Instead of slaves, 
they had the same men, as free laborers. So 
in South Africa, the Hottentots, regarded as 
the lowest race of men, were emancipated at 
a blow, and Dr. Clarke inforuu us, that they 



at once became industrious and orderly citi- 
zens. Wherever the experiment has been 
tried, it has resulted in improving the condi- 
tion not only of the slave, but of the master^ 
by giving the latter the benefit of free labor, 
instead of slave labor. 

But we are told to look at St. Domingo, 
with its horrible massacres and terrible de- 
vastation, — and that they say, it is a true 
picture of immediate emancipation. It is 
not so, and those who assert that it is, are 
either ignorant of history or wilfully misrep- 
resent it. The massacres of St. Domingo 
had notliing to do with emancipation. France, 
when a Republic, had proclaimed freedom to 
the slaves of her colony in St. Domingo, 
They were then emancipated in a body, and 
the historian relates that they were employ- 
ed as free laborers, and worked peaceably 
and industriously, so much so, that he says 
they carried on whole plantations themselves, 
in the absence of their employers, who were 
never more prosperous than at this time. 
When Napoleon was supreme in his power, 
some of the planters of St. Domingo propo- 
sed to give him a large sum of money to 
carry on his wars, if he would reduce the 
colored people there again to slavery. It 
pleased this man of ambition, who thought 
more of a victory than of the liberties of 
millions, and he sent out an army, to subdue 
the colored people of St. Domingo, and re- 
duce them to slavery. When these men, 
who had tasted of freedom, heard of this, they 
resolved to die, sooner than submit to put on 
their chains again. They fought for free- 
dom, and drove out the French who had been 
sent to conquer them, and swept from the 
Island every Frenchman, with a terrible de- 
struction. That was the cause of the mas- 
sacres of St. Domingo ; not emancipation, 
but an attempt to make slaves of men who 
had been emancipated. Such was the spirit 
of those men, that the whole power of 
France, in the days of Napoleon, was unable 
to subdue them. They retreated to the 
mountains, cut off the resources of their foes, 
and finally compelled them to leave them in 
the enjoyment of freedom, which they have 
ever since maintained. Our fathers resisted 
a tax on tea, even unto blood, and we rejoice 
in their deeds of patriotic valor. But they 
were not threatened with s/rrrcn/, as the peo- 
ple of St. Domingo were, when they resist- 
ed the power of France. 



48 



Minutes of the .Yni'-EnglanJ ..Inti- Slaver >/ Convention. 



Tliesc facts which I have related of the 
history of St. Domingo may be found in 
French history, and are indisputable. 

But there is one other objection and the 
only one I will notice, which is made a great 
handle of, by our opponents — you will dis- 
solve the Union, say they, if you preach up 
Anti-Slavery ! This is the knock down ar- 
gument. If we daro to tell the truth, to 
proclaim the rights of man, and insist that 
the Declaration of Independence is not a 
falsehood, why then, to be sure, we shall 
dissolve the Union. 

So fur from this being true, we regard our 
object as the only effectual means of pre- 
serving the Union. We want to save the 
Un?on. Slavery is the mother of all the s,ec- 
tional divisions and heart burnings which 
threaten the dissolution of the Union. The 
great political struggle is between free labor 
and slave labor, and ifslavery continues, the 
Union cannot continue. It is so black, so 
full of evil, so pernicious in its influences, 
that there will be no security, no peace, no 
permanent national prosperity till it is done 
away. The great eternal and just God, will 
never bless a people, which holds in its em- 
brace and countenances such an evil in the 
land, as the slavery of more liian two mil- 
lions of our fellow men. Let our politicians 
and our public men, do what they will, they 
may depend upon it we shall never be one 
nation, and one people, until slavery is done 
away. 

Mr. Pomroy said, that in the course of 
his remarks he had alluded to tlie arguments 
of the slaveholder, that the condition of the 
slave was improved, by his being held in 
bondage, and that we had no riglit to inter- 
fere with iiis privilege of holding iiis slaves, 
as property, because it was secured to him, 
by the Constitution and laws. These and 
other arguments of the apologists of Slave- 
ry were forcibly presented, in a petition, 
Avhich he would suppose was presented, some 
thousand years ago, from the Egyptians to 
the Senate of Egypt, concerning the He- 
brews. Ho then road the following from tli(> 
New- York Evangelist. 

A PARAiu.r: FOR Tin; carolinas. 

To Ihf I'rincis aitd I.oriU of K^n/pi, in female as- 
ttmhlrd : 

'The petition of the undersigned, being 
free born citi/.cns of the land ofZoan, slicw- 
cth— 

' That wr, your petitioners, are all honor- 



able and just men, and as much attached to 
the religion and institutions of the land as 
any class of Pharaoh's subjects. 

' That your petitioners, on the faith of com- 
pacts, have embarked all their property in 
building Pyramids. 

' Tiiat your petitioners verily believe that 
the building of Pyramids cannot be carried 
on at all by free labor. 

' That, therefore, your petitioners were in- 
duced, according to the law of nations, to 
make slaves of tiie Hebrew shepherds. 

'That the state of slavery is the most con- 
genial to the flebrew intellect, and rank in 
existence — and that their state in slavery is 
infinitely superior to their former starving 
and perishing state in the land of Canaan. 

'That if your petitioners had no motives 
of humanity, yet that from motives of inter- 
est and profit, they would look after the health 
and comfort of their slaves, as much as the 
proprietors of any other cattle would look 
after their herds in the land of Goshen. 

'That the slaves like their situation well, 
and would remain perfectly satisfied with 
their easy and comfortable condition, were 
it not for the ofRcious meddling of a gang of 
canting hypocritical missionaries, and a junta 
of despicable saints in the Senate, headed 
by the upstart Moses. 

'That the slaves, though they much love 
their present state, are, some of them, ex- 
ceedingly stubborn — and others run away 
from their work — and that, therefore, your 
petitioners are obliged to brand them in or- 
der to know them, and also to use a scourge 
and a goad in order to keep tlicm at their 
work — but, generally speaking, the scourge 
and the goad are rather the insignia of pow- 
er in the drivers than instruments of cruelty. 

'That your petitioners hear with horror and 
indignation of an unjust and iniquitous requi- 
sition of emancipating the Hebrew slaves 
totally and immediately, M'hich your petition- 
ers cannot contemplate without shuddering 
at such a gross violation of vested rights. 

'That your petitioners beg permission to 
declare, temperately but firmly, that if this 
clamor about the Hebrew slaves shall be 
continued, we your petitioners will oppose it 
with force and arms, and will declare our- 
selves independent. And your petitioners 
shall ever pray, and dissolve the union.' 



UK.MARKS OF .MR. CIIOULES. 
Rkv. J. O. Choclks of New-Bedford, ad- 
dressed the Convention, lie said he was 
asked to-day how long he had been in favor 
of emancipation, and his answer was that 
when he was quite a child, residing in Eng- 
land the plarc of his birth, he went with his 
grandlathertovisitMr. Wilberforce the great 
philanthropist and christian. He took him 



Remarks of }icx\ J. O. Choulcs. 



49 



T»n his TcYiee, an5 show liim a figure, repre- 
senting an African slave, with his manacled 
hands raised imploringly to heaven, and the 
supplication pu't into his mouth, 'Am I not 
a man and a brother ? ' He asked what it 
meant, and his venerable friend explained to 
him the nature of slavery. From that mo- 
tr.ent, said Mr. C. I have been an abolition- 
ist — the lesson sunk so deep in his mind he 
never could erase it, so that he dated his con- 
version to the doctrines of Anti-Slavery, 
from the time he was six years of age. 

This was his answer to the question, how 
Hong it was since he had been converted to 
Anti-Slavery. These were the principles 
he had learned as a child in England, and 
they had been strengthened and confirmed 
in his manhood, in America. I am, said he, 
an Englishman by birth— I love the land of 
•ray birth, but I adore the land of my adoption. 

It was said that this subject of slavery had 
better be suppressed ; that nothing should 
'be said about it to disturb the harmony of 
the Union. But if tve are silent, can We hide 
it from the great Jehovah ? Will he be si- 
lent if we say nothing? No, it cannot be 
concealed. We cannot conceal it from our- 
selves. It must be contemplated, and it will 
flit across the stage to startle those who are 
guilty of this sin of holding their fellow men 
in bondage, as did the ghost that affrighted 
the wicked usurper. Here were two mil- 
lions and almost a half of our fellow men, de- 
prived of all miral a<Tcncy, without option, 
without the power to call even their immor- 
tal souls their own ; holding life itself at the 
mercy of a task master, who buys and sells 
them, and drives them away like cattle. If 
they are men and have souls to be saved, 
have they not a right to look up, to extend 
their manacled hands to heaven, and say in 
the name of God, who created man in his 
image, 'We protest against the oppression of 
our fellow man!' — and who can say that 
God will not hear them ; and who can say, 
if God be just, that the consequences of 
that appeal to him against the white man, 
will not be tremendous ? 

Mr. C. said he had recently returned from 
the South, and he was satisfied that perpe- 
tuation was the determination of slavehold- 
ers. Nothing but the irresistible force of 
public opinion could break the chains of the 
slave, and let the oppressed go free. They 



have never regarded emancipation as within 
the range of possibility, and if a single slave- 
holder has ventured to express such a senti- 
ment, it has been checked at once by those 
around him. Public opinion must be made 
to reach them, and support those who are al- 
most persuaded that tiieir true interest, as 
well as their duty to God, is to emancipate 
and employ the slave. 

What was this slavery ? In what light 
were slaves regarded by their masters ? as 
immortal beings having souls to be saved or 
lost? O! no* Hundreds of men who were 
slaves had died this day, and their masters 
have looked upon them not as men having 
souls to be saved, but as broken pieces of 
machinery, the value of which was lost to the 
oAvner, because they could not be made to 
go any longer. Here was the crime of the 
whole nation : and were we so rich in virtue 
as to look up to heaven, and dare to ask for 
a blessing on our country, with this plague- 
spot upon it? He had lately met with a 
clergyman, who had been in a slave family, 
the head of which was a professing christian, 
and after prayers, he asked the minister to 
go to his slaves and see if they were not sat- 
isfied with their condition. They were call- 
ed in for that purpose, but they knew that 
their master was where he could hear what 
was said, and that the lash would be the con- 
sequence of their telling the truth. It is 
thus that the fear of God is put out, in the 
conscience of the poor slave, by the fear of 
his master. The master cannot tell his slave 
all about God, for if he does, the slave will 
wonder why he became such, and he will 
never believe that his master can fear God. 
The slave master has to pray for ignorance. 
From all Sunday schools, religious teachings 
and reformations, he prays to be delivered, 
for fear he shall lose his slaves. If a cloud 
of heavenly blessings is about to fall, the 
planter must pray that it will pass over hia 
plantation. Let it fall any where else but 
there, for if religion or knowledge gets among 
his slaves, he dreads the effect upon thorn 
more than he does the cholera or the plague. 
Professing christian men, who are owners 
of slaves, are thus striving to shut out the 
blessed light of the gospel from the benight- 
ed mind of the slave. We must talk of this, 
and proclaim it through all the churches, and 
it must be done, and the truth must be told 
in the fear of God, even though the rich. 



50 



Minutes of the J^/'etv- England Anti- Slavery Convention. 



should leave the Church. I have seen that 
done, said Mr. C. but not in my parish. 

He rejoiced in being present here tonight, 
and seeing the evidences around him that 
this cause was progressing, and taking hold 
of the hearts of men. In order to be pres- 
ent hero, he had left another place full of 
heavenly influences, and had come here to 
raise his feeble voice in the cry for the eman- 
cipation of the slave, that was going up 
louder and louder every day, to the throne 
of a just God. He should go home, bless- 
ing God for what he had seen and heard, and 
take courage. The cause had advanced, 
and was advancing. Three years ago, the 
most that men could be got to say was that 
they were getting ready to come over, but 
now they were comingovcr by hundreds and 
thousands. Five years ago he was told that 
no anti-slavery minister would be able to get 
a pulpit ; now those same persons were ready 
to say, God be with you ; and he would say 
to his fellow laborers in this cause, God be 
with you— go on— and you shall yet see the 
day of deliverance come. 

[The Convention here adjourned to meet 
again on the following evening, for further 
discussion.] 

Note. In the course of the evening, a 
resolution was offered by Professor FuUen, 
of Harvard College, relative to providing 
compensation for the masters of emancipated 
slaves. Mr. Follen spoke to this resolution 
in an eloquent manner, though he stated he 
had not matured his suggestions upon the 
subject, and he was not prepared at that time 
to propose any plan, though he had drawn 
one up. He wished the resolution might lie 
on the table, to be taken up at some future 
time. He contended that so far as the rela- 
tion of master and elave went, the slave had 
a distinct right to his liberty ; and if it could 
not be obtained in a kind manner, he had a 
riglit U) C!,scaj)e for it, to fight for it, in every 
way to obtain it. Tlie slave owner could 
have no property in his slaves, for there was 
no such thing, in the nature of things, us 
I)roporty in man. But the constitution and 
laws secured the slave to the master, and 
compelled every judge in the free Stales to 
bo an associate witii the slave owner, in se- 
curing and delivering uj) to him his fugitive 
slave. But it had been said that we were 
dealing in a cheap philanthropy, whicii cost 



us little or nothing, Avhile it was to deprive . 
the master of his property in slaves. To 
avoid this imputation, he had thought of a \ 
plan not to remunerate the slaveholder, but 
to relieve him from the effects of emancipa- 
ting his slaves, and losing his right to their 
labor. To do this required great sacrifices 
on the part of the people of the free States ; 
but it was a national evil, a national sin, and 
all must bear the burden of it, as all were ■ 
more or less involved in the guilt. With 
these remarks, which were somewhat ex- 
tended. Professor Follen moved that his re- 
solution be laid on the table. 

Mu. David L. Child believed that the 
view taken by the learned Professor was 
founded on a wrong theory, though it did 
that gentleman credit, as a liberal philan- 
thropist. He admired the excellent feeling 
in which it was proposed, but it could be 
fairly demonstrated that emancipation would 
take nothing from the slave master, if it was 
not followed with expatriation. He believed 
that free labor would be cheaper than slave 
labor, and thus there would be a gain, rather 
liian a loss of property. 

The resolution was then laid on the table. 



Thursday Evening, May 26. 
The Convention met, and the discussions 
were resumed. 

REMARKS OF REV. MR. BOURNE. 
Rev. Mr. Bourne, of New-York, [rose 
immediately after the Choir of colored chil- 
dren had sung an appropriate hymn to Lib- 
erty.] I have been, Mr. President, said he, 
where those children, had they attemjited to 
sing a liymn to the liberty of the slave, 
would have been rewarded for it with the 
lash, to remind them of their chains. But 
Sir, can any rational being give me a reason 
why those children, because their skins arc 
colored, should be less entitled to sing a 
hymn to Liberty, and enjoy liberty them- 
selves, than children whose skins are while ? 
I hojje, Sir, we have met Jicre not only to as- 
sert abstract right, but to carry forward prin- 
ciple by i)ractice. All agree with us in ad- 
mitting that slavery is a great evil, but the 
dilliculty i^J that they are contented with say- 
ing it is a great evil. How it is to be abol- 
ished they do not undertake to say. Tii«re 
iIk y leave us, and if all men were to go no 



Remarks of Rev. Mr. Bourne. 



51 



farther, there the evil would exist as long as 
man exists. I propose to examine this evil 
in its relation to christian churches, and for 
that purpose I offer as a resolution the fol- 
lowinsr — 



Resolved, That as slaveholders can show 
no just claim to property in the men they 
hold in bondage, the existence of slavery in 
the Churches is inconsistent with the chris- 
tian religion, and ought to be abolished. 

But it is said, if we undertake to put this 
sound doctrine in practice, we shall destroy 
the churches. Destroy the churches, Mr. 
President, by obeying the command of God 
to do unto others as we would that others 
should do unto us ! This is as inconsistent 
as it would be to say, we shall destroy the 
justice of God, by doing justice and loving 
our neighbor as ourself Destroy the Church, 
by expelling slavery from it ! No, Sir, you 
would cleanse and purify and save the 
Church. The experiment has already been 
tried in one portion of the Church. The 
Friends have done it. No man, for years, 
has been allowed to be a member of that re- 
ligious Society, who holds slaves. It has not 
destroyed them. Many Baptist Churches, 
at the South and West, have solemnly en- 
tered it on their records that they cannot 
recognize a slaveholder as a Christian. The 
Reformed Presbyterian Church will not ad- 
mit a slaveholder in their communion, and 
that canon of their Church discipline is rig- 
idly enforced. A proposition was before 
their Association not long ago, that every 
slaveholder who was a member, must cease 
to be a slaveholder, or be excluded from the 
Church. The proposition was agreed to, and 
there was no more slavery in that Church. 
The slaves went free, and the Church was 
not destroyed. Go and do lilvewise, is the 
injunction wliich comes home to the con- 
sciences of every christian Church. How 
can they escape from it in the sight of God ? 
If a member of a Church steals the smallest 
particle of property from his neighbor, would 
he be held a fitting member ? and how then 
can a man be a christian and a man-stealer ? 
But they tell us that this sin is so woven 
into the church in the slave States, it cannot 
be got out. I will tell you how it has been 
done, and how it can be done effectually. 
In a Methodist Church, in one of the slave 
States, the leaders of the classes had resolv- 
ed that they would not hold christian fellow 



ship with any man who hold liis fellow men 
in bondage. They went to work, and pray- 
ed out every slaveholder in the Church. A 
Methodist Minister from Kentucky came to 
preach one day, and he began to talk to the 
christian brethren about the Bible and re- 
ligion. Their reply to him was, ' Go back to 
Kentucky, and wash your hands of the negro 
blood that sticks to tliem ; make your peace 
with God for stealing your fellow man, and 
then come and we will listen to you as a 
teacher of the gospel of Christ ! ' 

Another man-stealer, who was a preacher, 
had sold a woman in Lynchburg, (Va.) for 
$300. He also came to this little band of 
faithful christians, and began to inquire into 
their feelings. Addressing one of them, 
'Brother K.' said he, ' how do you feel about 
the love of God in your soul ? ' The brother 
who was thus addressed, jumped up in his 
seat, and said to him, 'How dare you talk 
about the love of God ! If you had the love 
of God in your soul, you would love your 
neighbor. Go back to Lynchburg, pay back 
the 300 dollars, the price of blood, and set 
the woman free you have sold into bondage, 
and then you may talk of the love of God.' 
I knew a minister in Indiana, one of the pur- 
est oracles of the word of God. A man came 
into his society who had sold his slaves in 
Georgia, and with the proceeds bought a 
farm in Virginia. Tliis man became a fana- 
tic in religion. Pie rebuked the brethren 
for their conformity to the Avorld in dress, 
and was much offended in his conscience, if 
any of tliem had two or three extra buttons 
on their coat. The Minister heard him com- 
plaining of his brethren for their dress, and 
he told him that he admired to see a man 
witli a tender conscience, but he could not 
comprehend how a man could swallow a 
whole plantation of negroes without hurting 
his conscience, and yet choke at a few but- 
tons ! Let these examples be followed ; let 
the sin of slavery be openly and boldly re- 
buked wherever it is found to exist in the 
Church, and the curse will be removed from 
the professing people of God. [The resolu- 
tion was then adopted.] 



REMARKS OF REV. MR. FROST. 
Rev. Mr. Frost, of Whitesboro', N. Y 
offered the following resolution : 

Resolved, Tliat the doctrine of expedien- 
cy ; that is, making our views of the conse- 



52 



Minutes of the jYew-Engiand Anti-Slavery Convention. 



quencos of an action the criterion of right, 
instead of the revealed will of God and ac- 
knowledged principles of rectitude, is fraught 
with danger to the interests of the church, 
and tends inevitably to subvert the dearest 
rights of man. 

The notion of doing evil that good may 
come, is no new doctrine. It is as old as the 
days of the Apostles, and by them it was 
condemned. 

There is in fact no sound moral distinction 
between what is right and what is expedient. 
What is best on the whole to be done, is 
both right and expedient. There is no 
clashing, therefore, between duty and ex- 
pediency. 

But our views of what is expedient are 
often very narrow and imperfect. 

There is but one Being in the universe 
who can, with unerring certainty, determine 
in all cases what is expedient. 

There is but one eye which can accurately 
survey the wiiole field of moral influence, 
and trace all tlie consequences of moral ac- 
tion under his boundless and eternal reign, 
and see what is best. The omniscient God 
alone is, therefore, the only infallible guide. 
It is always safe to obey him, and trust to his 
providence, whatever man may command or 
predict to the contrary. 

When fallible man, leaning to his own un- 
derstanding, turns prophet, and gravely 
warns us of the consequences of an action, 
and sets up his notions of expediency as the 
rule of duty in opposition to the known will 
of God, there is cause for alarm. He is cer- 
tainly wrong, and a compliance with his no- 
tions of what is expedient will, in every 
supposeable case, be followed with more 
disastrous consequences, than obedience to 
the divine will. 

The next safest guide to the will of God, 
where that will is not definitively made known, 
is the judgment of the wisest and best 
among finite beings, and the great princi- 
ples of rectitude established by the common 
sense of mankind. IIo who sets up his own 
views of expediency, in opposition to these, 
is probably wrong. The sus|)icion naturally 
arises, tliat some scUisii, depraved afffcction 
of heart lies back of his reasoning, and con- 
trols his judgment. 

It is true that an enlightened and unbi- 
assed mind will, in most cases, be able to 
discover good reasons for the will of God, 



and the acknowledged principles of rectitude^ 
by looking at consequences ; but there is a 
great advantage in having an acknowledged 
standard by which men may at once test the 
propriety or impropriety of moral action. 
If such a standard is disregarded, every man 
is left to his own. fallible judgment of con- 
sequences as thg rule of action. To allow 
men to do this, would be to sap the founda- 
tions of human society, and introduce end- 
less confusion and misrule. 

This is the fruitful source of infidelity and 
atheism. Men become too wise, in their own 
eyes, to be guided by the word or the provi- 
dence of God. At length they question the 
fact that he does speak or provide, and even 
the fact that he exists. 

In looking at the errors which have pre- 
vailed, every sober man must be struck with 
the strong tendency which has been exhibit- 
ed to set aside the revealed will of God and 
the acknowledged principles of rectitude, and 
to set up this principle of expediency in their 
place. 

This was the error of the Jesuits. That 
the end sanctifies the means, wasthemaxio* 
upon which they justified their hypocrisy and 
cunning, and which rendered them the terror 
of Europe. 

What led to the doctrine of the infallibil- 
ity of the Pope, and of tiie church of Rome ? 
This doctrine of expediency. What estab- 
lished the Inquisition? Expediency. It 
was expedient that all men should be made- 
to think alike on matters of religion, and to 
effect this, it was expedient to resort to tor- 
ture and murder. 

What deprived the common people of the 
bible ? It was inexpedient to trust thetn to 
'search the Scriptures' as God had com- 
manded, because more evil tlian good would 
result from such examination. 

It was the same doctrine which led to the 
persecution of the Quakers in this State. It 
was expedient to prevent heresy, in the ar- 
mies of Israel, by substituting carnal weapons- 
for spiritual. 

It was this mode of reasoning which led' 
a few individuals in a neighboring State, to 
commit an outrage on one of its citizens, 
wiiich has shaken the whole nation, and 
which has led the great body of the people 
to believe, that the institution itself, which 
could have induced intelligent men to set at 
naught a plain command of d'od, ' Thou shall 



Reinarks of Rev. Mr. Frost. 



53 



not kill,' must be dangerous to the rights and i 
liberties of men. And by their voice that 
institution is doomed to destruction, which 
some of its friends thought it expedient to 
support by the death of Morgan. 

This doctrine of expediency was resorted 
to as a justification for the slave trade. 

It was held 200 years ago to be an act of 
christian benevolence to take men from 
Africa, and sell them as slaves in a christian 
land, whore their pious masters might con- 
vert them in their chains, and lead them along 
to heaven ! ! And now, forsooth, this pliable 
doctrine, expediency, requires that the slaves 
shall be held in bondage for the good oi their 
masters, as well as their own ! ! ! 

What is the plea of the modern duellist for 
his summary mode of justice, by which the 
laws of God and man are set aside as un- 
worthy to control a spirit so honorable ? It 
is expedient that he should have the privilege 
to resent an insult by taking the life of his 
fellow. 

These results of the doctrine of expedien- 
cy clearly show the danger of overlooking 
the will of God and the great principles of 
righteousness, and setting up our own wis- 
dom above that of the wisest and best of 
men, and even that of the Father of lights. 

This dangerous doctrine of expediency is 
the only show of support for that system of 
abominations. Slavery. 

Slavery is manifestly inconsistent with 
the genius and precepts of Christianity, and 
the acknowledged rights of man. 

Most, it is true, will coldly admit that sla- 
very in the abstract is wrong ; and yet will 
contend that its continuance is justified. 
They assert, and apparently believe, that all 
men are created equal, and are entitled to 
the inalienable rights of liberty, agreeably to 
the Declaration of Independence upon which 
our government and institutions are based ; 
and in the next breath are stout defenders of 
slavery in practice, and denounce as fanatics 
and incendiaries those who have the weak- 
ness to believe it ought at once to be abol- 
ished. 

Such doctrines and denunciations are 
heard not only from noisy politicians and 
newspaper scribblers ; but from members of 
Congress, and others in high places. They 
boast of the wisdom of our fathers, which 
gave birth to the Declaration of Indepen- 
dence, declaring it a self-evident truth that 



'aW men are equal,^ and endowed by their 
Creator with the inalienable right oj liberty, 
and yet they insist that it is expedient that 
every sixth man, woman and child in this 
nation of freemen should remain a slave. 

To be consistent, they should say the 
Declaration means, and ought so to have 
read, ' We deem these truths self-evident : 
that all men are created equal, and are en- 
dowed by their Creator with certain inalien- 
able rights, among which are life, liberty, and 
the pursuit of happiness ; Indians, JWgroes, 
and all colored people that God hath made to 
dwell on all the face of the earth, excepted.'' 

But it is objected to the friends of anti- 
slavery, ' You are going to deprive the South 
of their property.'' Property ? Property in 
men ? Yes, those who make this objection, 
must contend that men without crime, born 
as free as themselves, are not the owners of 
their own bodies and souls. This objection 
sets aside the doctrines of natural rights, the 
principles of the Declaration of Indepen- 
dence, and the spirit and genius of Christian- 
ity. 

But it is said, ^ If you attempt to convince 
men of the sin of slavery, you will dissolve 
the Union.'' This is the plea of expediency 
ao-ain. If slavery be a sin, and the Union 
worth preserving, we shall not dissolve it ; for 
if the freemen of this nation can be made to 
feel that slavery is a sin, they will abolish it, 
and thus strengthen the Union which slavery 
now weakens and threatens to destroy. ^But 
men loill not listen. Those interested will be 
irritated even by temperate discussion, and a 
faithful exhibition of the evils of slavery, and 
ivill dissolve the Union wdessthe subject be let 
entirely alone.'' And suppose we let it alone ? 
What then are to be the consequences ? 
Less disastrous ? Is it not expedient to do' 
right, lest some should be offended, and do 
themselves or others injury ? If God has 
said, 'Thou shalt not steal,' and holding 
men's bodies and souls in slavery is a viola- 
tion of this law, must we hold our peace, lest 
those who uphold the system sliould dissolve 
the Union ? If such be the result, whose is 
the fault, — those who insist upon the right of 
violating Heaven's laws and man's rights, or 
those who show the sin and danger of such 
violation ? Those who disregard the will of 
God and the rights of man, and not those 
who respect that will and defend those rights, 
are to be held responsible for consequences. 



54 



Minutes of tlie jYtiv-England Anti-Slavery Convention. 



And in all cases, the consequences are less 
disastrous, where only ten righteous men cry 
out against the sins of the land in which they 
dwell, than when all follow the multitude in 
countenancing evil. 

Let us, then, not fear to hold men's con- 
sciences to first principles, human and divine, 
however restive they may be, until they are 
compelled to prove these principles false, or 
yield to them an unqualified submission. Let 
this be done, kindly indeed, but firmly and 
perseveringly. Thus acting, we are safe. 
We plant our feet upon solid rock, against 
which the waves of popular tumult will dash 
in vain; — we place ourselves in an impreg- 
nable fortress, reared by unerring skill, 
' against which the gates of hell shall never 
prevail.^ 

David L. Child, Esq. of Boston, second- 
ed the resolution. He said that there was 
a curious illustration of this doctrine of ex- 
pediency about keeping men slaves, related 
in Clarkson's history of the Slave Trade. 
When Mr. Wilberforce proposed to abolish 
the slave trade. Alderman Watson of Lon- 
don, a member of Parliament, opposed the 
measure. And what do you suppose his 
reason was for doing so ? Mr. Speaker, said 
he, if you abolish the slave trade, what will 
become of the West Indies, nay more, what 
will become of Newfoundland ! There is a 
vast quantity of refuse fish consumed by the 
filaves, and where shall we find a market for 
this fish if we abolish the slave trade ! 

The resolution was unanimously adopted. 



[Since llic speech of (he Rev. Mr. Fkost was de- 
livered, the Puialishing Commitlce have received the 
following communiciilion from Ihat gcnllcman, in 
further explanation of his views on the sul)jccl of 
slavery.] 

If the address I made at the late Ncw- 
I'higland Anti-Slavery Convention is pub- 
lished, I should wish it might be accompa- 
nied with the following additional remarks. 
It is impossible, in the short space usually 
allotted to a speaker, on such an occasion, to 
enter into all the cx|)lanalions which may 
seem desirable. I know that lliore are many 
intelligent men, and among them men of 
great moral worth, whose opinions and feel- 
ingH are cntilk-d to the highest respect, who 
complain of nnti-nlavery men, as they arc 



the terms they use ; and also for an indis- 
criminate condemnation of slaveholders ; 
while there arc many among them who ab- 
hor slavery, and would gladly release their 
slaves did t!ie laws of tlie land, and the good 
of the slaves permit them to doit. Whether 
this complaint is well founded, I will notsay ; 
that it is frequently uttered, I know. 

Slavery, in this country, is that system of 
human bondage, which is upheld by a legal 
power, granted to an individual to purchase, 
raise, use and sell, his 'fellow creatures as 
property. 

The conferring of such a power is virtu- 
ally a denial of the established doctrine of 
human rights among civilized nations. It is 
a subversion of our Declaration of Inde- 
pendence. It is a nullification of the insti- 
tution of marriage, and of the duties God 
has enjoined upon husband and wife, parent 
and child, by subjecting them to the entire 
control of the will of another. 

It nullifies the commission of Christ to his 
ministers, 'Go ye into all the world, and 
preach the gospel to every creature,' by giv- 
ing the master of slaves the power to ex- 
clude him from doing it orally or by letters. 
Such a system ought not to have an exist- 
ence. Such a po%ver over his fellows no 
community has a right to confer on one of its 
members. 

When we speak of slavery as a sin, we 
ought to be understood to mean just such a 
system of servitude as this power is adapted 
to produce, and not that of which some slave 
is the subject, who has a master that treats 
him as a child, and is willing he should be 
free. 

A slaveholder, in common parlance, means, 
and ought to be understood to mean, one 
who voluntarily assumes and exercises this 
power over others for the purpose for which 
it was bestowed, — that of liolding their fel- 
low men as property. Slaveholders are an- 
swerable for the evils of this system. It 
was established for their benefit. It is con- 
tinued for their benefit. The laws that up- 
hold it arc nothing but an expression of their 
will. When that will is changed, slavery is 
virtually abolished. And when a majority 
of them regard slavery as a system of in- 
justice, and ropent of it, they will bring 
forth fruits meet for repentance, by blotting 
it from the statute book. 



/.ermed, for not explaining more definitely ] To apologize for slaveholding, by referring 



Remarks of Rev. Mr. Frost. 



65 



to one who abhors the system,who is using all 
his influence in every proper way to abolish 
it, who is willingto emancipate his slaves, but 
who cannot dissolve the relation which the 
law has formed, is to divert the public mind 
from ordinary slaveholding and its sinful- 
ness, and to fix it upon an excepted and 
special case. And many difficult questions 
may arise as to the duty of such a man. He 
is forbidden to teach his slaves to read. 
Ought he to obey or disobey ? He is for- 
bidden to emancipate on the soil, where are 
the attachments of his slaves, where they 
wish to dwell, and where he can look after 
them. Ought he to disregard the law ; and 
if they are taken up and sold, to feel unan- 
swerable for consequences ? Or ought he to 
send them out of the state, or to Africa? 
Such cases, instead of leading us to apolo- 
gize for slavery, should lead us to cry aloud 
against it. It shows what a tyrannical spirit 
it has, not to allow those who desire it to 
' let the oppressed go free,'' in the land that 
gave them birth, and where their kindred 
dwell. 

It is proper to use the terms slavery, slave- 
holder, and slave, as e.\'pressive of something 
wrong, as much so as theft, thief, and stolen 
goods. 

If a man is a slaveholder, it is prima facie 
evidence of guilt ; and it belongs to him, and 
not to others, to show his innoeence by his 
actions, as much as he who is in possession 
of the property of another, when he has 
found the rightful owner. 

To compare the subjection of children 
and minors to their parents and guardians, to 
that of slaves to their masters, and to talk of 
slavery as not malum in se, but malum in con- 
sequential is to blind rather than to enlighten 
the public mind. It is not proper to call 
children and minors slaves, and their parents 
and guardians slaveholders, and their service 
slavery. 

By immediate emancipation, I mean the 
immediate removal of this power given to 
individuals to hold men, women, and chil- 
dren, as property, and placing them at once, 
under a wise and humane system of laws, 
such as intelligent and virtuous legislators 
would deem best for such an ignorant and 
degraded propulation, were they their own 
descendants, whom it was their duty to ele- 
vate to the rank of enlightened and useful 
citizens. Let such a heart exist in the bosom 



of the majority of the slaveholders of any 
state or nation, and I venture to assert slave- 
ry would be abolished as soon as they could 
meet to perform the deed. When such a 
spirit shall animate the breasts of southern 
freemen, all fears arising from the danger of 
immediate emancipation will vanish. Tliosc 
who should talk of its being more safe to 
deprive two millions and a half of their fel- 
low-men of their unalienable rights, in such 
a country and such an age as this, than to 
treat them as brethren, entitled to the same 
privileges with themselves, Avould be frown- 
ed upon as interested hypocrites, or pitied 
as weak-minded cowards. Such a notion is 
contrary to the philosophy of the human 
mind. As a general rule, love begets love, 
kindness produces kindness, and injustice 
produces a spirit of anger and revenge. 

In asserting that slaveholders have no 
right to hold slaves as property, I would not 
be understood to say they may not have 
some claim, on principles of equity, upon 
those from whom they have purchased them, 
or from the state or nation, in case of imme- 
diate emancipation. That is a matter which 
I would leave to be settled by politicians. 
What I would contend for is, that God has 
not given to one man the right to hold the 
body and soul of his fellow-man as property, 
to be bought and sold at his pleasure ; that 
it is the highest act of injustice ; and that 
all the laws which uphold such a system are 
a violation of the royal law of doing to oth- 
ers as we would that they should do unto us. 
It is the duty of every man, therefore, to be 
willing that such a system of injustice should 
at once be abolished, although he should re- 
ceive no indemnification for the loss he 
might sustain. The rightful owner claims 
his own property, and his first duty is to ac- 
knowledge the claim, and restore to Jiim 
what is his own, pre-eminently, his body and 
soul. This doctrine is of great moment. It is a 
barbed arrow in the conscience of the slave- 
holder. So long as it is acknowledged that 
he has as equitable a title to his slave, as to 
his cattle and horses, he may condemn 
slavery as on the whole a great evil, but will 
justify himself in holding him as property 
until he is paid. 'Honor among thieves,' is 
a proverb to whicli I do not object. But if 
they would evince the genuineness of their 
repentance, let them restore to the rightful 
owner their ill-gotten goods, and then if 



56 



Minutes of the N'ew-England Anti-Slavery Convention. 



they can find all the partners in the con- 
cern, let them settle among- themselves upon 
equitable terms, if they can, the ^ain or loss 
of the partnership. But let it not be for- 
gotten that the slave has the first and high- 
est claim to the use of his own body and 
mind, and to a full remuneration for all his 
past unrequited services from those to whom 
he has rendered them. 



REMARKS OF REV. JMR. BLAIN. 

Rev. Mr. Blain of Pawtucket, R. I. next 
addressed the meeting. He said : 

Without ofl^ering any definite resolution, 
Mr. President, I propose to consider the fol- 
lowing proposition, viz : that Slavery is con- 
trary to natural right. 

Not only does our own Declaration of In- 
dependence affirm that all men are born free 
and equal, but God himself has declared that 
he has made of one blood all nations to dwell 
on the face of the earth. In the charter of 
our own rights as the people of these United 
States, we maintain that among- the inalien- 
able rights of all men, are life, liberty, and 
the pursuit of happiness. The heart of eve- 
ry man responds to this truth, and it is the 
very basis of all our political and social in- 
stitutions. Now it is evident that a condi- 
tion of slavery takes away all these inalien- 
able rights. It will not be denied that the 
negro is a man ; and there are twelve of the 
United States, who have adopted this solemn 
recognition of the inalienable right of liber- 
ty in all men, and yet they hold men in ab- 
ject bondage. In twelve of these United 
States, men, women and children, arc bought 
and sold and driven away like cattle. In 
different parts of the United States arc 
found establishments which are markets for 
the purchase and sale of human beings. 
Even in the city of Washington, under the 
eye and the sole control of Congress, these 
slave naarkets arc a;jffercd to carry on their 
business in human blood and sinews. The 
newspapers of the country are filled with ad- 
vertisements for the purchase and sale of 
men, women and ciiiidron. A Mr. Collier 
published in a newspaper in Richmond, Va. 
tliat lin will at all times pay a fair price for 
likely young negroes; that ho has a house 
fitted for the purjmse, with a prison to koop 
them secure. And he adds, ' I keep con- 
r-»--»i„ (,^ liand a larue number of likelv 



young negroes, and now have one hundred 
boys, young men and girls, which I will sell 
in lots to suit purchasers!' 

Suppose we were to see such an adver- 
tisement in New-England, and a man should 
keep in prison and sell boys, young men and 
girls, at auction or otherwise, what should 
we think of such a business, and how long 
would it be permitted.' But would it be 
any more of an infringement on the inalien- 
able rights of man, to sell boys and girls in 
New-England, than it is to sell them in Vir- 
ginia ? Where is the difference as to the 
abstract right between selling Mhite boys 
and girls, or colored boys and girls ? 

There are three jails in the city of Wash- 
ington, and when they are full, the United 
States prison, which cost ten thousand dol- 
lars of the money of the people of this whole 
nation, is prostituted for a prison to confine 
innoccEt men and women, who are kept 
there, until they can be sold or driven off" to 
another market. The traveller may go to 
the Capitol of this free republic, and there 
see the splendid pile, Avith its majestic dome, 
erected for the legislature of the country. 
He may hear the members discourse elo- 
quently of liberty, and the inalienable rights 
of man ; and within sight of that building 
over which waves the American eagle, he 
may see the flag that is put out to signify 
that human beings are to be sold to the high- 
est bidder, and hear the cry of ' negroes for 
sale by action.' What! men and women and 
children, to be sold like cattle, in the very 
spot where the American eagle waves tri- 
umphant over the heads of the Legislators of 
ten millions of/rccwn/i ? Yes, Sir; slaves 
are bought and sold there, men and women, 
boys and girls, horses and cattle, goods and 
chattels, all put up and knocked off" under 
the same hammer, which falls, as regardless 
of the ties it severs between parent and 
child, husband and wife, as though it were 
merely dividing a quantify of goods into dif- 
ferent lots to suit purchasers ! The frantic 
mother may cling to her child, the helpless 
sister to her brother, the distracted wife to 
her husband, but all in vain ; at the snap of 
the whip they are driven oft' in different di- 
rections, by different purchasers, never to 
meet again. It is estimated that about 
(iO,000 human beings are sold annually in 
this manner from the Northern slaveholding 
States, and sent off* to Louisiana and the 



Hvmarh of Rtv. Mr. Blaiu. 



57 



new States. This traffic -will be increased, 
as the demand for slave labor increases with 
the increase of population in the new States, 
and at least 100,CO0 souls are to be annually 
sold into hopeless slavery, in tliis domestic 
traffic in the slave trade, and driven off to 
the South and West. 

We are not talking, Sir, of things beyond 
the moon, but oi facts, hero within our own 
knowledge* At this moment, while I am 
talking, men and women are imprisoned in 
the District of Columbia, to be taken out and 
sold, and driven to the New Orleans market. 
And yet we boast of libcrfij, though not a 
man is found who dares to raise his voice in 
the Congress of the nation, against this 
abominable traffic, over which, within that 
District, the laws of the United States have 
entire control. There is no Wilberforce 
there, no fearless friend of the rights of man, 
who will come forward boldly, to abolish this 
traffic. It is only the negro who suffers, say 
they, and the negro cannot feel. Besides, 
we can keep him better as a slave, than he 
could keep himself as a freeman. This is 
Ihe sophistfy that soothes conscience to 
sleep. 

What was the oppression of our fathers, 
which drove them to seek their freedom at 
the cost of life and fortune ? They were not 
bought and sold, but they were taxed with- 
out their consent; and what did they do? 
They armed themselves, and went forth to 
the battle. They fought for seven years. 
because they would not be taxed against 
their consent. For this they were called 
patriots, brave men, noble spirited, who 
would not be oppressed. Now here are two 
millions of our fellow men, a thousand times 
more oppressed than our fathers were. We 
come forward and pray to have them deliv- 
ered from oppression, and restored to free- 
dom. Do we appeal to the sword ? No ! To 
resistance and force ? No. We wish to have 
it all done by moral suasion aloM. We de- 
precate violence ; we exhort those who are 
in bondage to be kind and submissive to 
their masters, to yield obedience in patience 
and long suffering, till the day of their de- 
liverance sliall come, by the force of truth 
alone operating upon the hearts of men. 
We wish to present the sin of slavery in its 
odious colors, and we wish, in the spirit of 
the gospel, to persuade the slaveholders of 
tlr-e United Stales, tliat it is thsir duty as 
8 



well as lasting interest, to give up slavery. 
We wish not to have the slaves turned loose 
without restraint, or driven away out of the 
country, but that they shall have the liberty 
of the law, and the protection of the law, as 
men and human beings. 

This is all the friends of Anti-Slavery are 
striving to bring about, by peaceable and 
lawful means— but while we are meekly 
pleading for the freedom of the slave, on the 
pure doctrines of the gospel and the immu- 
table and constitutional principles of eternal 
right and justice between man and man, 
what are we called for so doing ? Our fath- 
ers were called brave men and patriots for 
vindicating liberty and the rights of man, at 
the point of the sword. We ask the oppres- 
sor to let the oppressed go free, and approach 
him only with argument and appeals to his 
heart, his understanding, and his interest — 
and we are denounced for it as cut-throats, 
villains, traitors and mad fanatics. Well, 
let them call us so. Such reproaches reach 
not a conscience void of offence before God 
and man ; and let it be our endeavor always 
to remember and follow the example of Him 
who went about doing good, and who, when 
reviled, reviled not again. We must expect 
to encounter this feelingof opposition, when 
we encounter slavery ; for such is the nature 
of that odious vice, and such its long con- 
tinued and indurating influence upon the 
heart of man, that it stifles liumanity and 
calls up all the malignant passions of our na- 
ture. I could tell facts that would show in 
glaring colors, the terrific influence of sla- 
very, in hardening the heart, and corrupting 
all moral sensibility. The very nature of 
the punishments inflicted by the laws of en- 
lightened States, upon their slaves, is suffi- 
cient proof of the tendency of slavery to 
harden the heart. In vain does your Con- 
stitution declare that no cruel or unusual 
punishment shall be inflicted. This too, is 
a mockery to the slave, as well as the decla- 
ration that all men are born free and equal. 

There arc fifteen kinds of cruel punish- 
ments provided for the slave. Among these 
is whipping, in a variety of forms. Persons 
are employed at the jails or other places, 
who are paid so much a dozen or hundred 
for lashing slaves. They are tied by their 
thumbs, and raised with a cord so as just to 
touch the ground, and in that condition, en- 
tirely naked, the lash is applied to th«ir 



58 



Minutes of the J\l'iw-England Aiiti- Slavery Convention. 



whole bodies. At other times they are 
thrown on the ground, and lacerated, every 
blow of tlie whip being followed by blood. 
Sometimes they are tied up by the head, and 
a rail passed through the legs to extend the 
body in a situation to receive the lash with 
the most excruciating pain. The slave who 
commits a crime, is not punished in the forms 
provided by law for the white man, but is 
often burnt at the stake, or beheaded, or 
seared with hot irons. They are not only 
thrown into the public jails, but are shut up 
in private dungeons, and life barely sustain- 
ed by the scantiest food. In a recent case 
in New-Orleans, where a iiouse took fire, 
the people found numbers of slaves, impris- 
oned in one of the rooms, in a most wretched 
condition, with gashes cut to the bone, by 
the ropes with which they had been tied. 
One poor wretch was found so lacerated, that 
living creatures were feeding on him. And 
all tiiis horrid cruelty upon human beings, 
was inflicted by a fiend in the shape of a 
woman, who was the owner of the slaves, 
and who insisted upon her right to punish 
her slaves as she pleased, and claimed the 
protection of the laws of Louisiana, for what 
she had done. I rejoice to add, Mr. Presi- 
dent, that a feeling of indignation was raised 
among tiie people of New-Orleans, at the 
discovery of this abominable iniquity, which 
shows that though the laws sanction such 
cruelty to the slave, the public sentiment 
even at the S'outh condemns it, and thereby 
proves that the laws are more cruel and un- 
just than the slave masters. 

Tins case at New-Orleans is by no means 
a solitary instance of cruelty to slaves. Take 
a few cases in other states, of the truth of 
wliich there can be no doubt. A female 
slave was sent on an errand, and was gone 
longer than her master wished. She was 
ordered to be flogged, and was tied up and 
nearly beaten to death. While the overseer 
was whipping her, in the presence of lier 
master, alio said tliat she had been prevent- 
ed returning sooner by sickness on the way. 
Her enraged master ordered her to be whip- 
ped again for daring to S|)(nik, and the Insh 
was again applied, until she expired under 
the operation. Nor was her life alone sac- 
rificed. An unborn infant dii.-d with her, 
which had been liie cause of ln;r delay on 
her master's errand. 

Another case occurred, where abliurk boy 



was whipped for stealing a piece of leather^ 
and because he persisted in denying it, he 
was whipped till he died. After he was 
dead, his master's son acknowledged that he 
took the piece of leather. 

A Georgian bought five slaves and set 
them a task in the field, which they could 
not or would not do. The next day he added 
another task, with orders that they should 
do that and the work of the preceding day, 
or be whipped until they accomplished it. 
The third day more work was added and ad- 
ditional whipping ordered. The work waa 
now beyond the strength of the slaves. 
They tried in vain to accomplish it, and at 
last left it in despair, and went into the 
woods. They were missed, and pursuit 
made after them, and were all found hang- 
ing dead. They had committed suicide to 
escape the cruelty of their master. A hole 
was dug, and they were thrown into it, 
amidst the curses of their owner at ths loss 
he had met with in his property. 

Mr. President, f do not relate these facts 
to reproach any man, or to Harrow up the 
feelings unnecessarily. I kliow there are 
many exceptions to this sorl of cruelty to 
slaves, and that many of them are treated 
with kindness; but the facts I have related 
are the legitimate consequences of slavery, 
which are every day flowing from thaS cor- 
rupt fountain in every part of our land, 
where this sin exists. And shall the chris- 
tian and the philanthropist be silent, while 
such abominations are tolerated among us ? 
We are pleading for the Indian of our own 
country, for the heathen of Burmah, for 
Sunday schools and for the Bible cause, and 
shall we not plead the cause of two millions 
of our fellow men, who are not only tiie vic- 
tims of barbarons laws, but arc deprived of 
tlie light of instruction, and the teachings of 
tlic gospel? Can it be possible. Sir, that in 
tills land of light there are laws against 
teaching men, women and children to read') 
It is even so. In Louisiana, fine and im- 
prisonment is the punishment, by law, for 
the first offence, if any one is detected iir 
leaching a slave to read the BibU' ! and for 
tiie second offenre, the person so convicted 
is /ii/Hnf.'.' Killed and imprisoned in this 
land of knowledge and lilxMty, and for what, 
Sir ? For the crime of Ifacliiiip; nun to read ! 
Nay, more; hungup like pirates and mur- 
derers, and for what)? For trying: a second 



Address to the People of the United States. 



59 



time, to open the way of life and salvation 
to the benighted slave, by teaching him to 
read the Bible ! 

We appeal to christian men and to citi- 
zens of a free country, if this is not a stain 
upon us as a nation that ought to be remov- 
ed? We appeal to men who are themselves 
free, to make the slave also free, that our 
whole country may enjoy what our Declara- 
tion of Independence declares all ought to 
enjoy, life, liberty, and the pursuit of hap- 
piness. We are too near the judgment-day, 
not to fear lest the cries of the oppressed 
should go up to the judgment-seat before us, 
and prepare an awful retribution for our 
sins! the sin of slavery! the sin of this 
whole nation. The command of God is grow- 
ing louder and stronger, and is every day 
enforced more and more on the conscience 
of the slaveholder— Break the yoke of 

THE OPPRESSOR, AND LET THE OPPRESSED 
GO FREE ! 



[Mr. James Thome, of Kentucky, a stu- 
dent of the Lane Seminary, Ohio, and the 
heir of a slave property in his native State, 
-closed the discussion of this evening, with 
an eloquent address, delivered with the grace 
of oratory and all the force of truth. He 
described the demoralizing and debasing in- 
fluences of slavery, particularly upon the 
families and children of slaveholders, and 
gave his testimony, the result of residence 
from his infancy in a slave State, in favor of 
the principles of Anti-Slavery, as the only 
mode in which the consciences of the slave- 
holders could be reached, and slavery be 
finally abolished. Tiiis address was deliv- 
ered by Mr. Thome, substantially, before the 
Anti-Slavery Society in New- York, and has 
been published in a pamphlet. It is there- 
fore omitted here. It was listened to by 
{he numerous audience, with deep attention. 

After Mr. Thome had concluded his re- 
marks, the whole congregation sang with an 
.impressive effect, in the tune of Old Hun- 
tdred, that sublime hymn — 

' Be Ihou O God, exalted high ; 
And as thy glorj' fills the skv, 
So let it be on earth displayed, 
Till lliou art here as there obeyed.' 

The Choir of colored children then sung 
a hymn, and the Convention was dissolved, 
all its meetings, though fully attended, hav- 
ing been conducted with the utmost propri- 
ety and good order.] 



ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE 

OF THE UNITED STATES. 

With all the deference which is due from 
individuals to society, to the great union of 
free and intelligent beings on whose sym- 
pathy, respect and protection they depend ; 
with all the confidence inspired by the de- 
fence of a cause which requires for its com- 
plete success, nothing but an impartial hear- 
ing ; with all the fervent hope, all the fear- 
ful solicitude for the destinies of mankind, 
wrapt up in the fate of this country, we, the 
humble and devoted advocates of the op- 
pressed, address you, our fellow-citizens, in 
behalf of more than two millions of men, 
our countrymen, whom we, the people of 
these United States, have doomed to ab- 
solute and perpetual bondage. 

What is the burthen of our addresSj^^the 
object of our petition ? Is it to provoke or 
offend — is it to wrong, or to desire to wrong 
our neighbor — is it to slander — is it to set 
ourselves up above others, as if we were 
better than they — is it to disturb the peace, 
or to loosen or to dissolve the Union — is it 
to promote divisions and to stimulate our dif- 
ferent classes to discord — the North against 
the South— the East against the West — the 
enslaved American against the free Ameri- 
can — or the colored man against the white ? 
No-^It is none of these. 

It is our object, in the first place, to set 
before you the nature and consequences of 
slavery ; not in order to convince you that 
slavery is an immeasurable evil, for this 
would be as useless as to attempt to per- 
suade you that liberty is an inestimable 
good. But we wish to impress you with tlie 
idea that we cannot hold this simple and in- 
contestable truth with impunity, that we 
drink the cup of freedom to our own conr 
demnation, unless we are willing to confess 
and repair our wrongs — unless we resolve 
to act in obedience to the law of liberty 
which we have proclaimed, and by which we 
must be judged. 

Every Fourth of July is to us a day of exr 
ultation for what we have done, and a day of 
iiumiliation for what we have left undone. 
The Declaration of Independence which is 
read throughout our land, bears record to 
our glory, our phnme, our inconsistency. It 
proves the unlawfulness of the government 
established over the slave, in the same terms 
in which it justifies the self-government of 



60 



Mhiutes of the .Yew-England .^nti-Shtvcri/ Convention. 



the free. For it asserts that all g;oveniine;iit 
amonff men derives its just powers from the 
consent of the governed ; that it is instituted 
to secure the inalienable i-ights of life, liber- 
ty, and tlie pursuit of happiness, with which 
all men are endowed cqualbj by their Cre- 
ator. 

These self-evident truths, set forth in that 
document of philanthropic wisdom and he- 
roism, are borne out by the testimony of in- 
spiration. Let us place side by side the law 
of the white man, concerning his colored 
fellow-man, and the law of God, concerning 
all his children. 

God said, 'Let us make man in our im- 
age, after our likeness.' Negro shivery de- 
nies God in man ; the children do not re- 
cognise their Father's likeness, because it 
has pleased Him to set it in a dark frame. 

The Son of God says, ' Be not ye called 
masters ; for one is your master ; one is your 
Father ; and all ye are brethren.' This uni- 
versal brotherhood, established by the God 
of nature, tiie Father of sj)irits, has it indu- 
ced the white man, tiie professed Christian, 
to see in iiis colored fellow-man, a child of 
God, to be respected and loved by him as 
he respects and loves himself? Look at the 
history of negro slavery. All its authentic 
records, all its unpublished volumes may be 
summed up in one sentence. The white man, 
the professed Christian, has treatod his 
brother, the colored man, first, as a beast of 
prey, and then as a beast of burthen and of 
draught. 

The Son of man farther says, ' Whatsoev- 
er ye would that men should do to you, do ye 
even so to them.' And, ' with what judgment 
ye judge, ye shall be judged ; and with what 
measure ye mete, ilsiiall be measured to you 
again.' To do unto others as wo would iiavc 
them do unto us — if this be the great law of 
justice by which we shall be judged — what 
must wc think, we do not say of the men, for 
we would not interfere between them and 
their own consciences — but what must wc 
tiiink of the laws of our slaveholding states 
and tcrritorie?, which the -while inhabitants 
liavo made, and which the whole country 
has sanctioned? 'J'lie law secures to itie 
while man, the poorest as well as the rich- 
pst, wlintevcr property ho inherits, or gains 
by hid own industry, or by exchange with 
olhors. The earnings of the slave, the 
fruitfl of his life-wneting industry, are not 



'lis own ; he inherits nothing but slavery, he 
bequeaths notiiing but slavery ; he himself 
is the product of slave-breeding industry, a 
marketable and hereditable commodity. Is 
this doing unto others as we -would have 
them do unto us ? The ties of domestic 
affection, the covenantof nature -which binds 
to each other husband and v/W'e, parent and 
child, brother and sister, arc acknowledged 
by public opinion, by the enlightened senti- 
ment of mankind, as tiie highest incentives 
to individual industry, the richest source of 
social enjoyment, the main support of order, 
mutual good will, and improvement in soci- 
ety. Tiie voice of nature and of reason has 
sanctioned the privacy of domestic life, and 
has placed the law of the land like a cherub 
with a flaming sword before the garden of 
life. But the law of the land which declares 
the house of the white man his 'castle,' and 
guards it against the threats of intruders by 
imprisonment and deatii — the same law, like 
a faithless sentinel, admits to the unguarded 
dwelling of the colored man, every selfish 
and brutal passion, if it bears the color of 
legalized oppression ; it licenses the profa- 
nation of all that is sacred and dear to the 
wretched victim of avarice and prejudice. 
Though conjugal fidelity, parental and filial 
affection and brotherly love be all placed in 
one scale, yet the market price in the other, 
seldom, if ever, fails to kick the beam. Is 
this doing unto others as we would have 
them do unto us ? All civil and political power 
is in the hands of the white man, — the colored 
man has none. He is compelled to live un- 
der rulers in whose election he has no voice 
— under laws in whose enactment lie is per- 
mitted to take no part — and under the ver- 
dict and judgment of courts which arc con- 
stituted wliolly by others, and where he is 
not allowed to defend himself by his own 
oath, or that of those of his own color. Is 
this doing unto otiicrs as we would have 
them do nnto us." 

The foundation of all rights, the right of 
personal independence and sell-ownership, 
by which every human being is invested with 
the free use and dispo.sal of iiis own body 
and his own soul, is denied to the slave. Re- 
sistance against violence, the natural right 
of self-defence, the rigiit of the husband, 
and the father to protect the virtue of his 
wife and child — if it be exercised by the col- 
ored man ngainst the white, is deemed wer- 



Mdrcss to the People of the United States. 



61 



thy of death. The riglit and duty of every 
human being to improve his mind, for wliich 
schools and associations for the advance- 
ment and dift'iision of knowledge arc estab- 
lished throughout our land, the cultivation of 
the intellectual nature of man, is secured 
only to the free man. The simple art of 
reading, which enables every one to appro- 
priate to himself what other men have done 
for the elevation and happiness of mankind, 
is withheld from the slave. The law in some 
parts of our country threatens death, even 
to the master himself, who should persist in 
teaching his slave to read. The safety of 
the slave State is thought to require this pro- 
hibition ; the knowledge of the alphabet 
mio-ht enable the slave to find out from the 
Declaration of American Independence, and 
from the word of God, that, by Divine right, 
and by the fundamental law of this country, 
every man is a freeman. If, indeed, the 
master should give his consent, which he 
may refuse or retract at any time, that Chris- 
tianity should be taught to the slave, it is only 
such Christianity, rather such a religion, as 
is consistent with slavery. Is this doing un- 
to others as we would have them do unto 
us ? The only case of importance in which 
the law acknowledges a crime committed 
ao-ainst a slave as a crime, and threatens 
punishment to the offender, the case of mur- 
der, affords but feeble protection to the life 
of the slave. The law enables the master 
to free himself from punishment by shewing 
that the slave came to his death in conse- 
quence of moderate castigation. Nay, tlie 
law secures impunity to the olfender in al- 
most every case of offence committed by a 
white against a colored man, by rejecting 
black testimony against ivhite crime. 

If doing unto others as we would be done 
by, is indeed the eternal standard of natural 
justice between man and man, wliat right 
have we, the freemen of this country, to our 
property, our families, our political privileges, 
to the possession of our own bodies and 
souls, while we persevere in denying the 
same privileges and blessings to our colored 
fellow-men ? In strict justice, lie who strips 
his unoffending fellow-man of his natural 
and civil rights, forfeits his own. 

Enough has been said on the simple truth 
that slavery is in itself unjust, that it is a 
crime against human nature, a moral impos- 
sibility. That the effects of slavery are no 



better than the cause, would be readily be- 
lieved on supposition, even if experience 
and history did not supersede all speculation 
on this subject. 

The evil consequences of slavery have 
been most deeply felt and forcibly set forth 
by slaveholders themselves. Its influence 
on the various branches of industry, partic- 
ularly on agriculture and manufactures, is 
plainly delineated on the face of our country. 
The condition of our slaveholding states 
compared with that of the free, the contrast 
between the two great states on the banks 
of the Ohio, and between the western and 
eastern portion of Virginia — are facts too 
obvious and conclusive to require an elabor- 
ate treatise on the comparative advantages 
of free and slave labor. 

And what are the natural effects of sla- 
very on the mind and disposition of the mas- 
ter and the slave ? A restless dissatisfaction, 
or a brutal contentment with his lot, aversion 
to all labor, because he labors not from the 
hope of a just reward, but from the dread 
of punishment at the hand of arbitrary pov/er, 
addictedness to low and sensual enjoyments 
because others are witliheld, these are some 
of the natural effects of slavery on the slave. 
On the other hand, constant fear of insurrec- 
tion, disdain of useful labor as associated 
with the condition of slavery, love of power 
nourished in the master from infancy, with 
freedom to gratify all his passions and whims 
in relation to his unprotected slaves — is it 
probable that these circumstances sliould be 
favorable to the growth of private virtue, or 
of true republicanism ? For, true republi- 
canism does not consist in maintaining equal- 
ity of rights among oppressors, but in lionor- 
ing all men as equals in all their natural and 
inalienable rights. 

When we say that freedom has a salutary, 
and slavery a hurtful influence on the mind 
and disposition both of the master and the 
slave, we mean that this is the natural result 
of thnt unnatural relation. Among the innu- 
merable cases which have been brought for- 
ward in confirmation of this truth, there are 
undoubtedly some which have been exagge- 
rated, if not invented, by those who have pub- 
lished them. But if we confine ourselves 
only to the oflScial and authentic accounts of 
slavery, and its offspring the foreign and do- 
mestic slave trade, there is enough to rouse 
every dormant feeling of humanity, and in- 



C2 



Minutes of the .Yew-England Anti-Slavery Convention. 



sj)ire tlie most timid and indifferent to active 
and enterprising benevolence. It is true 
there are virtues, such as frankness and ijen- 
crosity, wliicii are found among slaveholders 
as well as among consistent freemen ; and 
Ve rejoice to acicnowledge tliem in our south- 
ern brethren, without entering into an invid- 
ious inquiry concerning the comparative 
<lil]iculty of practising tiie virtue of generos- 
ity in different portions of our country. It 
is upon the belief in the existence of those 
generous sentiments, that the friends of abo- 
lition rest much of their confident hope that 
the slaveholders of the South will take this 
^reat work into their own hands, and force 
an acknowledgment of their magnanimous 
love of liberty not only from their rivals at 
the Nortii, but from tiie forsaken slave. On 
the other hand, we rejoice that tiiere are 
many instances to prove that the state of 
degradation imposed upon the slave has not 
obliterated every feature of the divine image. 
That the spirit of man, however darkened, 
is not extinct in the slave, is evident from the 
occasional wild eruptions of the smothered 
fire of indignation and resentment, as well 
as from the striking instances of that fidelity, 
which is the moral support of an iumioral 
power, and which has often saved the unsus- 
pecting master from the fury of the revolting 
slaves. The same truth is confirmed by nu- 
merous instances of voluntary death prefer- 
red to a life of bondage, and by the still more 
cheering and elevating example of those who 
after having worked out their own freedom, 
have not ceased to toil and to starve until 
Ihcy have redeemed their friends froin servi- 
tude^ 

Whether the slaves are treated well or ill, 
wliether they are contented or not, these arc 
circunfistances which do not affect the duty 
of emancipation. Tlie very existence of 
laws against runaway slaves would bo suffi- 
cient to prove that many of them, surely, are 
not contented. Wo have no right to assert 
that the slave is happy, in a condition the 
least particle of which, if it were imposed 
upon us, would be rt'sisted unto blood, until 
wc have offered to him freedom. We mean 
freedom in good faith ; not the pitiful and 
precarious allowance of human rights that is 
settled upon the uncnslavcd nuin of color in 
moat parts of our country : i)iit liberty such 
as wc have it, other thuij which we ought to 
be ashamed to offer. Tiie slate of ignorance \ 



in which we have placed him may indeed 
render it inexpedient to call the slave to an 
immediate and unlimited exercise of every 
privilege. Yet we certainly are not justified 
in asserting that the slave is content with his 
present lot, until we have offered to him the 
immediate enjoyment of all those rights for 
the possession of which he is now qualified, 
together with the means to fit himself as 
soon as possible, for the exercise of every 
privilege enjoyed by the white freeman. 

But suppose it true what has been assert- 
ed, that the vast majority are contented and 
happy — this contentment and happiness 
should be considered not as the best, but as 
the very worst and most deplorable effect of 
slavery. If human beings, stripped of all 
the rights and attributes of humanity, are 
contented and happy, it is a proof that the 
hierarchy of nature which has placed man, 
the moral agent, at the head of all living 
creatures, is broken, that the animal has sur- 
vived his spiritual nature. If it be true then, 
that the slave is fallen so low as to rest sat- 
isfied with his own degradation, and forget 
that he is a man, then slavery has indeed 
done its worst on him, and it becomes our 
most sacred duty to break the spell that has 
converted human beings into brutes. 

Many objections to the immediate aboli- 
tion of slavery have been brought forward, 
which, like the one already mentioned, the 
alleged contentment of the slaves, only re- 
quire a fair and thorough examination, to be 
deteated or converted into auxiliary argu- 
ments for emancipation. It has been said, 
the slaves are not prepared for liberty. But 
it is clear that the first step toward civilizing 
and christianizing the negro is to acknowl- 
edge that he is a man, whoso confidence we 
have to gain by confessing that we have 
wronged him, and endeavoring to repair the 
injury by abandoning forever the inhuman 
|)rinci])le that man can hold i)ro])erty in man. 
It has been said that the slaves, if suddenly 
emancipated, would uac their liberty for 
avenging their past sufferings upon the mas- 
ters. But it would be strange indeed, if tiie 
standing army and the militia, the whole 
power of this country which has hitherto 
secured tlie unrighteous authority of the 
master over tiie slave, sliould not be able to 
uphold the rightful dominion of the law over 
the freeman. It seems stranger still to sup- 
pose that by an unaccountable perversion of 



Address to the People of the United Slates. 



63 



the most natural feelings, the colored man 
who has no cause for hatred and desire of 
revenge against the white man, except the 
fact that he holds him in slavery, should hate, 
and desire to revenge himself upon him, for 
restoring him to liberty. Whatever strange 
kind of speculation may lead men to expect 
that love should beget hatred, this surely is 
not the logic of the human heart. 

The history of the past as well as the experi- 
ence of our days,does not record one instance 
in which the immediate abolition of slavery 
has stirred up the freed man to violence, out- 
rage, and war. Witliin the remembrance of 
this generation, slavery has been abolished in 
St. Domingo, in the republics of South Amer- 
ica, and recently throughout the vast empire 
of Great Britain. Different modes and forms 
of emancipation have been tried. In some 
cases the enjoyment of perfect liberty on the 
part of the slaves has been preceded by an 
apprenticeship, in others full liberty has been 
granted at once ; in some instances portions 
of land have been allotied to the negroes ; in 
others they have been left without any means 
of support but their personal liberty ; in others 
a part of the produce, or certain days in the 
■vveek, have been secured to the free laborers 
remaining on the plantations. In all these 
instances, in which a whole state has abol- 
ished slavery, and in many others in which 
the comparative value of free and of slave la- 
bor has been tried on a smaller scale, the 
safety and superior advantages of immediate 
abolition have been fully established. Great 
light has been shed on this subject by the 
Report of the Committee appointed by the 
House of Commons, on the extinction of 
Slavery in Great Britain. The confident an- 
ticipations of many of f.he witnesses who 
were examined by the Committee as to the 
safety and desirableness of that great na- 
tional measure, for both masters and slaves, 
have already been verified so far as the short 
time that has elapsed since the actual en- 
franchisement of the British West Indies has 
enabled us to judge of the results of this 
great measure. Already several islands have 
petitioned the government and have obtained 
permission to substitute full and immediate 
abolition, for the system of apprenticeship, 
which had been devised as an intermediate 
step from servitude to freedom, because it 
soon becanfie evident that the full advantages 
of a free labor system cannot be realized by 
any scheme of demi-Bervitude. 



A thorough investigation of the much dis- 
figured liistory of St- Domingo, which has 
been so often held out as a fearful warning 
against all attempts at immediate abolition, 
bears the most decided testimony to the 
safety of this philanthropic measure. In- 
deed, thehistory of Hayti speaks more strong- 
ly in favor of this cause, than the most 
sanguine abolitionist could have expected. 
For it is proved by competent eye witnesses,* 
that after the fearful contest which raged 
in that island from 1791 to 1793, and which 
from a civil soon became a servile war, and 
ended in a complete abolition of slavery, the 
slaves as Soon as they Avere declared free- 
men, instead of trying to avenge the cruel- 
ties they had suffered, quietly returned to 
their plantations. There they continued to 
work as free laborers for a fourth part of the 
produce, besides having two days in the week 
entirely to themselves. And this cultivation 
of the land on shares proved, so successful 
that the island was fast advancing toward its 
former prosperity, when in 1801, Buonaparte 
conceived the inhuman and insane plan of 
reducino- the enfranchised islands again to 



slavery. 

In Guadeloupe, which had been quiet and 
prosperous in hef freedom as St. Domingo 
was, the ruthless conqueror succeeded in 
restoring slavery after the most fearful and 
bloody resistance. But he failed in St. Do- 
mingo. And if we would rightly estimate 
the 1-esult of this great struggle from servi- 
tude, discord, and anarchy, to liberty, law, and 
union, we must consider that during the con- 
tinued warfare which did not wholly cease 
until 1"^^, the Avhole island became one/( 
republic, the arts and habits of peace were 
almost entirely abandoned, and the expensive 
works for cultivating the land on which the 
amount ot exportable property greatly de- 
pends, were destroyed. We must consider 
also that the natural disposition of the people 
inclines them to secure by moderate labor 
the necessaries and comforts which the cul- 
tivation of a rich soil easily affords, rather 
than to strive and toil for wealth, and com- 
mercial eminence. Again we must consider 
that the industry of that island is kept down 
by the support of a large standing army to 
prevent invasion, and by an enormous nation- 



*^ See particulnrly the French works of La Croix 
and ftlalenfant. 



C4 



M'uiiites of the MW'England Anti-Slavery Convention. 



til debt to Franco. Under all these circum- 
stances which Jiave necessarily reduced the 
produce, the exports and imports of St. Do- 
mingo, and affected the character of its in- 
habitants, if we consider that the population 
which in 1804 amounted to about 400,000, 
liad increased, according to the official census 
in 1824, to 935,335, and if we look upon the 
amount of freedom, security, and prosperity 
enjoyed in that island— we cannot help see- 
ing in the whole unprecedented history 
of St. Domingo, a most satisfactory evi- 
dence of the safety and expediency of 
immediate abolition, even under the most un- 
favorable circumstances. 

That the Africans will not work from any 
better impulse than the cart-whip, is an as- 
sertion so often refuted, that it is not worth 
while to dwell upon it. It is indeed not im- 
probable that the long continuance of slave- 
ry, has degraded many so deeply as to re- 
quire some impulses besides those of self- 
interest, honor, and family attachment, to 
stimulate them to honest industry; some le- 
gal restraints to prevent those who by a sud- 
den act of abolition are made masters of 
Iheir time, from abusing it to the injury of 
others as well as themselves. Laws may be 
necessary like those existing in Ilayti, which 
compel idlers and vagabonds, all those who 
cannot show that they possess the means of 
an honest subsistence, to cultivate the earth 
for their living ; as in many parts of our 
rountry also, paupers are compelled to labor 
for the sustenance provided for them by the 
community. But the practical importance of 
these laws will continually decrease, as the 
natural effects of freedom supphmt i\\^ arti- 
ficial resorts of slavery. 

The loss of property growing out of im- 
mediate emancipation, lias been urged as 
another objection to this measure. The gen- 
eral ground of this question, the comparative 
advantages of free and slave labor, have been 
so clearly demonstrated by scientific and ex- 
perimental investigation, that few, if any, 
remarks are rotiuired on this subject. It 
Nvould Mccm Kiiperlluous to prove in detail, 
that the maslr-r, the planter in particular, 
must bo benefitted by the exchange of a 
slavr -labor for a fp'o-labor system. It frees 
liim from the necessity of purchasing culti- 
vators for his land, the price of which must 
rise in proportion to what he savps by not 
being obliged to buy njcn, in addition ; he is 



not at the risk of losing part of his capital 
by the sickness, or death, or escape of his 
slaves ; he has not to provide for the sick, 
the children, the aged, except so far they 
may have to be taken care of by the com- 
munity. Instead of depending on laborers, 
whose interest it is to do no more work than 
the fear of the whip can induce them to per- 
form, and to pass themselves off for being 
as unprofitable as possible, the employer of 
free labor has the choice of laborers, whose 
I interest, whose heart and will are in their 
business, and Avhose reputation for efficient 
usefulness is at stake. Instead of finding it 
for his advantage to debar his slave from all 
knowledge, save what concerns him as a do- 
mesticated animal ; instead of doing vio- 
lence to his own nature by degrading that of 
his slave, the master or employer will be 
prompted both by his earthly and his spiritu- 
al interests, to promote the intelligence, the 
self-respect, the love of truth and justice, 
the religious principle in the free laborer. 

These considerations are sufficient to 
shov.' that universal and immediate emanci- 
pation must, in general, prove eminently 
beneficial, both to the slaveholder and the 
slave. Cases of individual suffering which 
are incidental to every general plan of re- 
form will be easily remedied. But although 
the economical advantages of this reform 
arc evident, it should never be overlooked 
that Justice demands the immediate aboli- 
tion of slavery, whether it be for the advan- 
tage or disadvantage of the slaveholder. In- 
stant and persevering exertion to remove 
from the present, and to avert from every 
future generation, the crime and the misery 
of oppression, is all that we can do to atono 
for the past, and to wipe off a part of that 
fearful reckoning, which awaits us all at the 
bar of eternal justice. 

There is one more objection to the promo- 
tion of anti-slavery principles, which ope- 
rates as a powerful chock upon many of our 
fellow-citizens ; although wo confidently be- 
lieve that if they would subject it to a thor- 
ough examination, they would see in this 
very objection the strongest argument for 
promoting the abolition of slavery in our 
country. It is said that the Constitution and 
the Laws of the Union acknowledge and 
secure the existence of slavery in every 
State in which it is not prnhibilod by the 
State itself, ao well as in the District of Co- 



Address to the People of the United Slates. 



C5 



lombia, and in several of tho Territories. 
Hence, it is argued, that the agitation of this 
question in the free States, is an improper 
and dangerous interference. 

It is true indeed, that the constitution as 
it is generally understood, though it nowhere 
speaks of slavery, is made to read so as to 
secure a power which, according to the prin- 
ples of the Declaration of Independence, 
cannot be rendered just, by any decree or 
act of government. It is true, that the slave 
escaping from bondage in one State, finds in 
every other, even in those States in Avhich 
slavery is by law proliibited, a powerful co- 
adjutor of his master, in every judge or com- 
petent magistrate of the Union, who is ob- 
liged to deliver him up to the pursuing own- 
er, however his own conscience may revolt 
against this official support of legal tyranny. 
It is true, moreover, that a standing army is 
kept and paid by these United States, chiefly 
for the protection of that special branch of 
industry in one part of our country which is 
proscribed in every other. It is true, that in 
case the slaves should assert and insist upon 
the rights solemnly ascribed to them, in com- 
mon with all other men, by tbe Declaration 
of our Independence, not only the army, but, 
in case the army should prove insufficient, 
the militiaj the whole people of these United 
States, are bound by law to assemble under 
the very banners under which they once 
achieved liberty for themselves, to put to the 
sword men who dare to claim the same inal- 
ienable rights. It is true, that a bargain, 
agreed to by the free states, entitles the 
slaveholders to send, in addition to the repre- 
sentatives to which their own number enti- 
tles them, twenty-five others to represent a 
portion of their population, which by their 
own laws are .accounted a part of the live 
stock, together with horses and cattle. It is 
true, that in some of the Territories as well 
as in the District of Columbia, over which 
Congress has an absolute and exclusive right 
of legislation, slavery has a legal national 
existence and support. It is true, in fine, 
that Congress, being invested with constitu- 
tional power ' to regulate commerce with 
foreign nations and among the several states,' 
although it has branded as piracy the foreign 
slave trade, still tolerates the domestic traffic 
in human beings, which is characterized by 
the essential attributes of the middle passage. 
By means of this traffic, the produce of the 
9 



slave-breeding is conveyed to th« slave-con- 
suming states, and the various wants of the 
slaveholding community are continually sup- 
plied. Nay, the seat of Congress, the capital 
of the United States, is the centre, the very 
heart of this traffic, drawing fresh supplies 
from different quarters, and sending them to 
every part, to nourish and support the sys- 
tem. 

The fact then on which the foremctitioned 
objection to anti-slavery movements is 
grounded, is incontestable. It is true that 
slavery, as it exists in our country, is support- 
ed by law, and by the constitution as it is 
generally understood. But can this be con- 
sidered as a reasonable objection ? Ought 
it not to be to us the most powerful induce- 
ment, to use every means which the consti- 
tution has left us, to remove this fatal incon- 
sistency with tiie vital principle of our social 
institutions ? 

It is not our object now to enquire whether 
a law can be deemed valid, if il is contrary 
to the first principles of natural justice, con- 
trary to the inalienable rights of man, par- 
ticularly when these principles and rights are 
solemnly acknowledged by the sovereign 
will of the people as the supreme standard 
and test of the validity of any law. We 
only ask the people of the United States to 
consider what bearing thatclause in the con- 
stitution which authorizes slavery, has upon 
the Declaration of Independence. The words 
of the only article which is understood as 
securing the claims of the slave-owner (Art. 
IV. Sec. III. 3.) are these : 'No person held 
to service or labor in one state under the laws 
thereof, escaping into another, shall, in con- 
sequence of any law or regulation therein, 
be discharged from such service or labor, but 
shall be delivered up on claim of the party 
to whom such service or labor may be due.' 
Now it is evident that these words of the 
Constitution are not inconsistent with tho 
acknowledgment of the inalienable rights of 
man, in the Declaration of Independence, if 
they are understood as having reference to 
such service or labor as may be due from one 
person to another, on any sufficient legal 
ground, except slavery. They are inconsis- 
tent with the Declaration of Independence 
only, if they be understood as applying to 
slave labor and involuntary servitude, as well 
as to free labor and hired services. — Suppose 
we had no other knowledge of the actual 



G6 



Minutes of the JVtiv-England Anti-Slavery Convention. 



intention of the fraraers of the Constitution, 
than tlie -words of the law itself, would it not 
become a subject of grave consideration, whe- 
ther the common understanding- of that arti- 
cle in the Constitution, according to which, a 
slave escaping into a state whose laws do not 
acknowledge slavery, is delivered up to the 
pursuing master, is not inconsistent with cor^ 
red principles of legal interpretation? Even 
if we do not look upon the Declaration of 
Independence as the acknowledged standard 
and tost of the validity of any law ; even if 
we consider the Constitution simply in the 
light of a more recent law, wliich, on this ac- 
count, ought to take precedence of the Dec- 
laration of Independence in any point in 
which they are decidedly at variance ; yet it 
is an undoubted principle of legal interpreta- 
tion, that whenever there is an apparent col- 
lision between two laws, the later of the two 
ought to be interpreted slrictly ; that is, if 
the words admit of a wider and of a stricter 
acceptation, they should be taken in that 
sense in which tiiey are not at all, or in which 
they are least inconsistent, with the princi- 
ples contained in a previous law. Now it is 
certain that the Avords of the Constitution in 
the article alluded to, have and always will 
have an exact practical meaning, whether 
slavery is continued orabolished in thiscoun- 
trv, since in their widest acceptation, they 
secure the claims both of the slaveholder, 
and of tlie employer of a freeman, or master 
of an apprentice, It is evident, moreover, 
that if taken in their widest sense, they are 
opposed to the Declaration of Independence, 
inasmuch as tliey are understood to secure 
the riuht of property in man. It seems, 
therefore, more conformable to correct prin- 
ciples of lejral interpretation, to understand 
them in that stricter sense, in which they do 
nuw and always will secure the rigiit of the 
employer to tlio /(jVc(/ services of the laborer, 
and particularly that of the master to the 
Horvicea of the apprentice. When thus un- 
derstood, there is a propriety in using the 
words ' to whom such service or labor is/Zi/e.' 
But lo whom else is service or labor '^/kp,' 
but tho man who in some way pai/s for it? 
We, in fact, see no ()lh<T alternative llian 
cither to adopt this stricter intfrpretalion of 
the forcnuMitionrd artic.lf of tli<^ Constitution, 
or to admit that the fundamental principles 
of the Declaration of Independence, which 
acknowledges the inalienable rights of man. 



as the only just foundation of government^ 
have been repealed by a single clause of the 
Constitution of the United States — a repeal 
which would amount to an abrogation of jus- 
tice itself. 

It may be said that these principles of 
legal interpretation, however just in other 
cases, are not applicable in this, as the fore- 
mentioned article of the Constitution waa 
certainly intended by its fraraers to secure, 
under terms of a more general import, the 
legal claim of the slaveholder ; and that this 
has been acknowledged and acted upon as 
the true and practical sense of the law by 
all the courts and magistrates of the Union. 
— We would not interfere with the applica- 
tion of the law thus interpreted. We would 
rather forego any advantage that our cause 
might derive from a different interpretation, 
than in any way lessen the binding power 
of that solemn compact which binds togeth- 
er the several branches of this great family 
of republics. We would adopt; ourselves, and 
urge others to adopt the sentiment of the 
Farewell Address of the Father of his coun- 
try : — ' The basis of our political system is 
the right of the people to make and alter 
their Constitution of government. But the 
Constitution which at any time exists, until 
changed by the whole people, is sacredly 
obligatory upon ail.' 

We acknowledge that there is sufficient- 
reason to believe that the forementioned 
Article of the Constitution was designed 
to secure the legal claims of the slave- 
holder, as well as the master of an appren- 
tice. But it seems as if its framers had couch- 
ed their intention in such general terms, in 
order that the Article might remain applica- 
ble in case that slavery should be abolished 
in the different states. They seemed to be 
looking forward to a time, when the princi- 
ples of the Declaration of Independence 
should have removed every species of goV' 
ernment that is not derived from the consent 
of the governed, and has not for its object 
the establishment of the inalienable rights 
of ninn. To carry these principles into eflect, 
the authors of the Declaration had pledged' 
their ' sncred honor,' — a pledge which yet; 
remains to be redeemed by tlieir descend- 
ni7fs. 

The same spirit and prospective policy arc 
manifest in the early history of congressional 
legislation : particularly in the ordinance C'n 



Address to the People of the United States. 



67 



the government of the great territory north- 
west of the Ohio, from which three states, 
Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, have taken their 
origin. This Ordinance was passed in 1787, 
by the unanimous voice of all the States 
present at its passage, viz. Massachusetts, 
New-York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virgin- 
ia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Geor- 
gia. The six fundamental articles of this 
Ordinance, which still form tlie basis of the 
Territorial governments of the United States, 
were intended, according to the Preamble, 
' for extending the fundamental principles of 
civil and religions liberty ; to fix and estab- 
lish those principles as the basis of all laws, 
constitutions, and governments, which forev- 
er hereafter shall be formed in said territory.' 
The sixth article declares, ' that there shall 
neither be slavery, nor involuntary servitude 
in the said Territory, otherwise than for the 
punishment of crimes, whereof the party 
shall become convicted.' 

But unfortunately in some later acts of 
Congress, this great principle was lost sight 
of; and the slaveholding states have promot- 
ed opposite principles, in order to open new 
slave markets in the territories, and support 
their own system of policy by similar con- 
stitutions of the neighboring states. 

But our belief does not rest on human 
legislation, or on the interpretation of 
any document of human device, however 
venerable. It is enough for our purpose that 
the constitution and the laws have left to us 
means to spread and to carry into effect the 
•doctrine of human rights, of universal lib- 
erty. The law, at least in the free states, 
allows the use of all means, except those 
which our own conscience would forbid ; tlie 
constitution of the New-England Anti-Slave- 
ry Society permits no others than such as are 
sanctioned by law, humanity and religion. 
It is enough that we have freedom to speak 
and to print ; freedom peacefully to assem- 
ble, and associate, to consult, and to petition 
the government of the Union as well as the 
legislature of every state,and thus by individ- 
ual and united exertion, to act upon the pub- 
lic mind. Thus armed with all the legiti- 
mate weapons of truth, we feel bound in 
conscience never to lay them down until the 
principle that man can hold property in man 
is effaced from our statute books, and held 
in abhorrence by public opinion. After the 
.iiiost careful examination, we arc convinced 



that slavery is unjust in itself, and cannot be 
justified by any laws or circumstances ; that 
it wars against Christianity, and is condemned 
by the Declaration of our Independence. 
We are convinced that it is injurious to 
every branch of industry, and more injurious 
still to the mind and cliaracter both of the 
master and the slave. Its existence is the 
chief cause of all our political dissensions; 
it tends to unsettle the groundwork of our 
government, so that every institution,found- 
ed on the common ground of our Union, is 
like an edifice on a volcanic soil, ever liable 
to have its foundation shaken, and the whole 
structure consumed by subterraneous fire. 
The danger of a servile and a civil war is 
gaining every year,every day ; for the annual 
increase of the slave population is more than 
sixty thousand ; and every day about two 
hundren children are born into slavery. As 
the more northern of the slave states, seeing 
the advantages of free labor, dispose of their 
slaves in a more southern market,and by de- 
grees abolish servitude,the whole slave popu- 
lation, and with it the danger of a terrible 
revolution, are crowded together in the more 
southern states. Under all these threaten- 
ino- circumstances, what have the southern 
states, what has congress done, to avert the 
impending calamity from the Union ? Con- 
gress, which has full and exclusive power to 
abolish slavery in the district of Columbia 
and in the Territories, and to abolish the do- 
mestic as well as the foreign slave trade 
shrinks from touching the subject. The fear 
of instant difficulties to be encountered 
overcomes the more patriotic fear of the 
ever increasing evils engendered by improv- 
ident delay, which reserves to our descend- 
ants, if we should escape them, the inevita- 
ble consequences of our own culpable neg- 
lect. 

And what has been done in the slavehold- 
ing states to prepare the great change from 
a corrupt to a sound and vigorous state of 
society ? There are indeed, benevolent in- 
dividuals endeavoring to elevate their slaves 
by oral instruction, and by allowing them to 
cultivate portions of land for the joint profit 
of the master and the laborers. But the law 
and the general practice, so far from en- 
deavoring to diminish, are calculated rather 
to increase the evil in order to render it more 
secure, to imbrutc the slave more and more, 
and extinguish in liim every aspiration 



G8 



Minutes of Ihe JVeio- England ^ntl-Slavery Conve7itio7i. 



and pretension to be a man. Ilcnce the laws 
against teachin^r a slave have become more 
numeroiiP, and the penalties more severe, 
particularly in those states in which the co- 
lored population is continually gaining upon 
the white.* They refuse to free the slaves 
on the ground of their not being fitted for 
the proper use of freedom; and they refuse 
to prepare them for it, because the prepara- 
tory course would induce them to throw off 
the yoke instantly. 

In tills hopeless state of things, a few in- 
dividuals, deeply impressed with the great 
and increasing evil of slavery, have thought 
it their duty to unite their efforts to undeceive 
the public mind, to rouse the fortunate heirs 
of freedom to a sense of their own obliga- 
tion to extend and secure the blessings they 
possess. They saw that the most powerful 
men in tlie nation were inactive, either be- 
cause the magnitude of the evil led them to 
doubt the possibility of finding an adequate 
remedy, or because they feared to disturb 
tho political or commercial connections be- 
tween the north and the south, or because 
they were prejudiced thcmselves,or thought 
it a hopeless attempt to conquer the preju- 
dice of others. The disinterested devotion 
of the few who went forth to prepare the 
way for the goapei of universal freedom by 
teaching that slavery is a sin of whicli all 
the people of this country are more or less 
guilty, and ought immediately to repent and 
to reform — tiie generous efforts of a few ar- 
dent minds have kindled the philantiiropic 
sympathies of many. 

The hostility, and still more the indiffer- 
ence with which the sentiments of the first 
fhampi(jns of inunediate abolition were re- 
ceived by the n^ajority of influential men in 
this country, may have betrayed some of 
them occasionally into iinguardod and 
intemperate e.\prc:j|»ions. Still, the people 
at large begin to feel that the object as well 
IK the motives of the friends of tiie oppressed 
are right ; and as soon as the conviction of 
a good cause lias once unsealed the deep 
fountains of the heart, and has engaged the 
energies of a free projjlf, it is as vain to at- 
tempt to check or divert their onward course, 
OH to conx or force Niagara to roll back its 
mighty waters from lake Ontario to Eric. 

' F,ol it lio rciiuMiilicicii i)i,ii lliosi- liiws wore rii- 
Kclod iiiiiny \<N(rs i\<i>\ and Uclorc llic .\iiti-Sliivcry 
SucicUcs were tliuu^lii of. 



But the dissemination of Anti-Slavery sen- 
timents, it is said, will be productive of a ser- 
vile and civil war, and terminate in the dis- 
solution of the Union. Now if there is 
anything in the theory of government that 
can be considered as an unquestionable truth, 
it is the principle that free discussion of eve- 
ry thing that concerns the constitution and 
government, is the indispensable condition, 
the conservative principle of every republic. 
Tho Constitution of our country has fully 
recognized this conservative principle, in or- 
daining that no law shall be enacted ' ahridg- 
i'vjg the freedom of speech or of the press.'' 
And what more have abolitionists done, what 
else do they aim at, than free discussio7i of 
a part of our social system ? To collect and 
to disseminate correct information, to argue, 
to answer objections, and to advise — these, 
and no other means, are authorised by the 
constitution of any Anti-Slavery Society in 
the United Slates. However strongly and 
urgently the sin and misery of servitude have 
been set forth in the writings that have ap- 
peared with the sanction of these Societies, 
yet they have never countenanced, but al- 
ways most earnestly disapproved the use of 
force, and the desperate recourse to insur- 
rection. They have appealed to the con- 
science and the self-interest both of the 
slaveholder and the slave ; and on the ground 
of religion as well as worldly prudence, they 
have urged the masters to give up, of their 
own accord, their despotic power, and the 
slaves to be subject to their masters, with a 
religious trust that the voice of reason and 
Christianity will ere long overcome the par- 
tiality of the law which makes the enjoy- 
ment of the rights of man to depend on the 
color of his skin. From the mouth of an 
abolitionist, the doctrine of subjection to his 
master is a solemn truth to the injured slave ; 
and the words. Peace ! Be still I when com- 
ing from the friend of freedom, are sufficient 
to assuage the wildestslorm of revolutionary 
passion. From tlie mouth of an advocate 
or apologist of slavery, Christianity itself, the 
gospel of eternal freedom and universal love, 
appears to the defrauded slave, only as a 
soiomn pretext fur o|)pression. Slavery is 
the true and lasting source of insurrection ; 
it is tiie avowed or secret cause of all tho 
serious dilVornnces between the members of 
this Union. Those, therefore, who directly 
or indirectly strive to gecure the existence 



Address to the People of the United States. 



69 



of slavery in this country, are nourishing 
the seeds of a servile and civil war; and 
their efforts to avert it from themselves, only 
serve to insure its breaking in upon our de- 
scendants, with increased violence. The 
fact that in those. Slates which depend most 
especially on slave labor, the colored popu- 
lation is continually gaining upon the white, 
is too obvious an indication of the future to 
require any explanation. 

Some, indeed, have attempted to prove the 
security of our slave States, by quoting the 
experience of the States of antiquity, in some 
of which one fourth or fifth part of the popu- 
lation were able, for a considerable time, to 
keep the rest in bondage. But those who 
thus quote the example of the ancient wo^ld 
in order to quiet the apprehensions of the 
present, overlook the fact that in antiquity, 
slavery was a part of the law of nations, in 
the enforcement of which, each State was 
supported by the practice and political sym- 
pathy of every other. Not one of the ancient 
republics was founded, as ours is, on the 
solemn acknowledgment of the inalienable 
rights of man, with which the existence of 
slavery is absolutely inconsistent. All the 
nations around us, particularly those with 
whom we are most closely connected, our 
republican neighbors in South America, and 
England, from which we draw a constant 
supply of new ideas as well as articles of 
merchandize, have abolished slavery. Our 
own example, which has stirred up the na- 
tions to a determined search after liberty, re- 
acts upon us ; the reproachful feeling of our 
inconsistency is growing continually more 
general and intense, both abroad and at 
liome. Thus all the circumstances and un- 
avoidable influences under which we are 
placed, the spirit of our time manifested by 
its history, the growing conviction of the in- 
justice and impolicy of tliis part of our social 
system, aggravated by the reproach of moral 
and political inconsistency, serve to impress 
us with the fallacy of every remedy for the 
evils and danjjor of slavery, except univer- 
sal and immediate emancipation. Tliere are 
-dangers connected with any scheme of par- 
tial or gradual emancipation. For if you 
emancipate only a certain number, or de- 
clare that all shall be free after a certain 
time, the partial justice which you show to 
some, is an acknowledgment of the justice 
.due to all, which cannot fail to rouse the in- 



dignation of those whose rights have been 
set aside by this arbitrary arrangement. As 
soon, therefore, as tiie personal antipathies 
and prejudices which have arisen from a 
passionate and unsparing attack and defence 
of Anti-Slavery principles shall have given 
way before the power of free and calm in- 
quiry, we feel confident that this great cause 
will unite all the friends of order, peace and 
union in our country. 

Fellow-citizens! The subject of our ap- 
peal, if rightly understood, is not calculated 
to rouse the jealousies of one part of our 
country against the other. We have all sin- 
ned together. We entered into the crime 
together, when tempted by the British gov- 
ernment in our infancy. At years of dis- 
cretion, when we became free, we deliber- 
ately preferred power to righteousness, and 
made the crime our own. In our vigor we 
have continued to cherish it. The South 
has said, ' Let slavery alone ;' and the North 
has, till recently, replied, ' We will let 
slavery alone.' Nay, all the freemen of this 
country are pledged by laws of their own 
enacting, to support the slaveholder in tram- 
pling upon all the native rights of man, which 
we recognize as the foundation of our social- 
institutions. 

The fact that in almost every part of our 
country, the mere difference of color is suf- 
ficient to exclude the unenslaved colored 
man from public hotels, stage-coaches and 
steam-boats, from profitable and honorable 
professions, from public schools and col- 
leges, from the elevating and refining influ- 
ences of society, — these facts are strong in- 
dications that the confinement of slavery to 
a certain part of our country, is owing to 
a difference of circumstances rather than 
principles. We all have sinned against the 
spirit, if not against the letter, of the law of 
liberty ; for every social system beaiing tiie 
name of a republic, unless it is founded on 
a profound and impartial respect of human 
nature, and the essential equality of human 
rights, is but a more or less successful coun- 
terfeit of true republicanism. It may pass 
for sterling coin among those who have 
given it currency, but the world at large 
will not fail to detect the base alloy mixed 
up with the pure metal. 

What is the duty of the freemen, and more 
particularly the duty of the citizens of the free 
states, with regard to the existence of slavery 



70 



Minutes of the JVtiv-England jlnti-Slavei'y Convention. 



in our country ? It is our duty to use all our 
power and influence,individually and by asso- 
ciation, directly and indirectly, to abolish a 
systemthatis absolutely inconsistent with the 
fundamental principle of our government, 
and must, sooner or later, if not removed, 
prove destructive of our Union. Congress 
has power to abolish slavery in the District 
of Columbia, and the Territories, as well as 
the domestic slave trade. We, the citizens 
of this country, have a right to peti- 
tion Congress to use this power ; we, 
the constituents of Congress, have pow- 
er to diiect our agents to execute what 
the sovereign will of the people shall deem 
conducive to the permanent welfare, tljc true 
glory of these United States. Every ses- 
sion of Congress, every opportunity of exer- 
cising our political privileges for the extinc- 
tion of slavery, so far as its e.xistence de- 
pends on our own will, is a trial of our love 
of justice, our patriotism, our philanthropy ; 
every neglect is a proof of our unworthi- 
ness of the privileges we possess. The di- 
rect political power of the citizens of the 
free States over the existence of slavery in 
this country, is confined to the constitutional 
fights of Congress ; but their moral influ- 
ence, their duty as men, as patriots, as chris- 
tians, have no limits but the free power of 
their fellow-citizens to listen or to turn a 
deaf ear to the conscientious fears, the well 
meant advice of those, who are pledged with 
them for the welfare of our common country. 
We feel bound in duty to plead the cause of 
the oppressed with our brethren at the South, 
who have authority to abrogate the State 
laws, on which the existence of slavery de- 
pends. We Jiave no legal or constitutional 
authority to support our plea ; but we have 
a draft upon their hearts, which will not 
te protested. Mucli as we wish that the 
words of the constitution might be so do- 
fined as to preclude the possibility of slavery 
in thi8couiitry,yot we believe thattlie means 
•which the constitution has lefl, are sufficient 
to accomplish this purpose. We believe that 
the moral action of truth and love, on the 
hearts and consciences of slaveholders, are 
fully adequate to the complete and speedy 
overthrow of our nalion'H crying sin. Wo 
would speak to the minds and the hearts of 
our southern friends, to their earthly intcr- 
ents and their patriotic virtues. We would 
Fpcak to tlioin, not in the tone of vuin self- 



complacency, which ill befits those whose 
prejudices against the people of color are a ^ 
strong offset to the fact that they are not 
actually slaveholders. Nor do we address 
them as interested, political rivals; for it is 
evident that, if the slaves were invested with 
all their social as well as personal rights, 
their interests being essentially the same as 
those of the rest of the inhabitants of that 
region, their emancipation would not dimin- 
ish, but greatly increase the political influ- 
ence of the South.* We would improve 
our more fortunate condition, to judge de- 
liberately and calmly of the cause of the 
slaveholder and the slave. We acknowl- 
edge that among the slaveholders, there are 
many, who are prevented from immediately 
liberating their slaves, not by base and sor- 
did motives, but some, by the state of the 
laws which discountenance emancipation'; 
others, are kept back by inadequate or mis- 
taken views of duty, or conscientious though 
groundless fears. On the other hand, we 
look upon the slave as a man, having all the 
rights of a man, which no one has any right 
to withhold from him, either from bad or 
good motives. It is urged in vindication ot 
the present owners of slaves, that tiiey are 
not the authors, but the innocent heirs of a 
great evil, superinduced upon their ances- 
tors by the influence of a foreign govern- 
ment. But even if it could be shown, that 
the present generation were forced to accept 
the unhallowed inheritance, the origin can 
in no way justify the continuation of the 
evil. For it is in the power of the people , 
of each slaveiiolding state, at any time, to / 
abolish slavery — and no hereditary claim, 
though approved by all the sovereign 
powers on earth, and confirmed by long im- 
memorial practice, holds good against the 
certificate of freedom which every human 
being brings with him into this world, from 
the hand of the living God. 

Fellow-citizens! The Anti-Slavery So- 
ciety, whicli is now growing so rapidly in 
every part of our country, although its seeds 



* Some Norllicrii opposcrs of our cause have 
raised a serious olijrcliou from llic fart, llint if sla- 
very wi'ic abolislu'il, ilir reprcsenlalion of tlic South 
ill (^ou^rcss would l)c ioMoasi'd, iiiasinurh as the 
cnfraiicliisod colnrrd inau wouhl be rounu'd as a 
irlioli' man, whcroiis the sl«vc is arrounted only tlirre 
fif'llis of a man. Hut wlial has iho Nortli to fear from 
such iiirruaso of representation in llie South, when, 
in order to it, slavery, llic chief cause of jealousy, 
will he doiie away ? 



Address lo the People of the United States^ 



n 



were sown among the weeds and thorns of 
popular prejudice, the Anti-Slavery Society 
i3 not a new sector party coming forward to 
mingle in the strife of politics, or the contro- 
versies of religion. It is intended to engage 
the friends of justice in every party ; and it 
is actually composed of men of almost all 
the different religious and political denom- 
inations in our country. Its sole object is, 
to bring about by all lawful and moral means 
the immediate abolition of slavery in our 
land ; to raise the colored man to that equal- 
ity of rights with the white man, which the 
Declaration of Independence secures to all. 
/'Without objecting to any transient legal re- 
straints and encouragements, which the in- 
fluence of past servitude may render neces- 
sary, we claim for the colored man the im- 
mediate possession of personal independ- 
ence and safety, the right to hold property, 
to be protected in all his family connections, 
to choose his own employment or profession, 
to give valid testimony in any court of jus- 
tice ; we claim for him the free exercise of 
religion, the free expression of iiis senti- 
ments, the use of every means of education 
by which he may fit himself as soon as pos- 
sible for the exercise of every right enjoyed 
by the white man. This is what we mean 
by immediate abolition. 

It may hare become necessary, on ac- 
count of misrepresentation, to disclaim as 
a sentiment utterly foreign to abolition- 
ists, any desire for the intermarriage of 
the whites and blacks. Neither we nor 
they wish it. The report of such a senti- 
ment being cherished by us, originated with 
our opponents, not iiith us. On the contra- 
ry, as the past and continual amalgamation, 
of which the mulatto race is the offspring, 
must be imputed to the criminal bonds of 
slavery, so we are confident that abolition, as 
it leaves the two races free to form their do- 
mestic relations according to their natural 
inclination and taste, will tend to prevent 
amalgamation. 

We have laid before you, our countrymen, 
the object of our Society ; we invite every 
friend of justice, every patriot, every philan- 
thropist, to engage with us in an enterprise, 
which, considering all the physical and spir- 
itual wants of the slave, will he found to 
comprise the essence of every benevolent soci- 
ety 171 our country. If the manner in which 
our Society has pursued its great object has 



been worthy of it, we have a right to expect 
the sympathy and co-operation of every wise 
and benevolent man. If our measures seem 
to you ill calculated to accomplish the ob- 
ject of our Society; this great and holy ob- 
ject itself should induce the wisest and best 
men of our country, if they recognize our 
good intentions, and approve aur principles,, 
to join our ranks, in order to gui<le our steps- 
in tiie riglit way. 

You who believe in the gospel of redemp- 
tion, you who believe that the day will come 
when we must all appear before the judg- 
ment-seat of Christ, how will you stand be-' 
fore Him, who tries and judges the heart.' 
—'Then shall he say unto t^em on the left 
hand, I was an hungered, and ye gave me 
no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no 
drink : I was a stranger, and ye took me not- 
in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and- 
in prison, and ye visited me not.' And when 
a band of those, who in your day and gener- 
ation were kept in slavery, shall rise on the 
right hand of the Judge, to witness against 
you, do you think that the testimony of the 
colored man, rejected here, will be rejected 
also, in the court of eternal justice ? Or do 
you believe you may evade the sentence of 
the Judge, by pleading that you attended to 
all the bodily wants and comforts of the 
slave — when you refused food and clothing, 
freedom, respect, and love to the immortal 
soul ?■ Or, do you think yourselves safe un-- 
der the plea that you yourselves were not 
slaveholders — when in any degree it depend-- 
ed on your exertions to put an end to the 
very existence of slavery in this world .' 

You who discern the signs of the time, and' 
are guided by them — do you remember how 
your forefathers left their father-land, to* 
seek liberty among strangers and savages ? 
Do you remember how the eons of the pil-' 
grims rather ventured their lives and their 
all in desperate fight, than consent to pay 
a paltry tax, because imposed by unlawful- 
authority ? Did not your fathers sign the 
Declaration of American Independence and 
human liberty ? And did not the same spirit 
that ga7e you strength to overcome the bands 
of oppressors and mercenaries in your de- 
voted land — follow the fugitives to their own 
homes, and wake the nations of the old 
world ? France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Po- 
land, England, have felt the touch of the re- 
deeming angel. A spirit of keen inquiry i» 



Minutes of tlic Mtv-England Anti^SlaVery Convention. 



goiiin- through the world, to examine every 
creed and every charter; it does not believe 
in the 'divine right of kings ;' it will not 
pass o\-«r the flaw, the fatal defect in the 
title of a State, that under the specious name 
of a republic uses the authority of the law 
and the sword of justice, to seal and secure 
tiie oppression of more than one sixth of its 
inliabitants. The world has Jicard the toc- 
sin of truth, and is awaking. Man is felt to 
be man, whether European prejudice frown 
upon him on account of his station, or A' 
merican prejudice because of his color. 
Europe, which had rekindled the ex- 
tinguished lamp of liberty at the altar of 
our revolutior^ still nourishes the holy fire ; 
England goes before us as a torch-bearer, 
leading the way to the liberation of man- 
kind. The despotism whicJi our forefathers 
could not bear in their native country, is ex- 
piring, and the sword of justice in her re- 
formed hands, has applied its exterminating 
edge to slavery. Shall the United States', 
the free United States, which could not bear 
the bonds of a King, cradle the bondocre 



which a King is abolishing.' Shall a repub- 
lic be less free than a monarchy .» Shall we, 
in the vigor and buoyancy of our manhood, 
be less energetic in righteousness than a 
kingdom in its age ? 

You to whom the destinies of this country 
are committed, Americans, patriots in public 
and private life, on you it depends to prove, 
whether your liberty is the fruit of your de- 
termined choice or of a fortunate accident. 
If you are republicans, not by birth only, but 
from principle, then let the avenues, all the 
avenues of light and liberty, of truth and 
love, be opened wide to every soul within 
the nation,— that the bitterest curse of mil- 
lions tnay no longer be, that they were born 
and bred in ' the land of the free and the 
home of the brave.' 

CHARLES POLLEN, ] 

CYRUS PITT GROSVENOR, | | 
JOHN G. VVHITTIER, 
D. PHELPS, 
JOSHUA V. HIMES. 



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